Plus Nine
by Dabombd1g1t1
Summary: Izuku Midoriya has nine imaginary friends. Except they're not really his friends, and their Quirks are anything but imaginary.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I do not own My Hero Academia, nor Worm. Those belong to Kohei Hirokoshi and Wildbow respectively.

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Prologue - The Boy and his Demons

He felt it in the air; long before he ever reached the place, he knew there was something wrong. The entire police building was alight with activity, throngs of officers moving to and fro with a sort of fervor that escaped him. It all felt hurried, frantic, and utterly panicked. As if All Might himself had fallen, and now they were left to pick up the pieces.

Tsukauchi Naomasa had seen this before. A villain had gone out of control once, his Quirk somehow allowing him to destabilize the holding cell's foundation enough to free some others. All of that turned into a shitshow that forced several heroes to come and stop the escaped villains from taking over the station.

This was similar, but different, in a way. Officers were still frantic, the place still seemed buslting as they moved to complete some task, yet all of it looked contained. Contained enough for himself to be called in to question someone in a recent villain attack.

Though, the detective knew from experience that things could be way different from how they seemed.

Still, he had a job, and flashing his badge at some jittery members as he walked by served to get to that started. They nodded in recognition, faces flashing with a form of relief that was clearly palpable. Just another thing that set his hackles arise.

"Detective!" A man walked up to him, his eyes large and slited. A mutation Quirk, he added, mentally wondering the applications. "I'm glad you're here. We're honestly not sure how to handle this, and calling All Might or any other hero felt… wrong."

Tsukauchi's face twisted into a frown. "Wrong? I was told to come in to question someone; I had assumed they were the villain in yesterday's robbery."

"You're… not wrong." The man paused, hesitating before a little reluctance peeked through. "They were involved in the previous robbery, and subsequent murders, but… it's more apt to call them the victim."

The detective's features curled a bit, unsure of what to think on that. Yesterday had been a robbery gone horribly wrong, and he had only heard of some type of monochrome bubble as well as trapped innocents. A failure on multiple inconsistent reports from heroes as well as the ineptitude of corresponding first responders.

There was a time when he had believed that leaving All Might to solve the problems of the world was the answer. That time left him the more he interacted with criminals. The more he found that almost everyone had something they were hiding.

And as much as he disliked it, sometimes a lie is better than the truth.

So, he was escorted down the halls of the building into the interrogation cells. The place was as cold and harsh as he last left it; a sort of small square cutout of the world that was made to hold criminals, murderers, rapists, and all types of scum that the world naturally nurtured.

However, looking through the one-way glass, Tsukauchi found none of those. Instead he found a boy no older than five or six, sitting down in the same chair that held monsters in human skin.

A boy with white, almost pale skin sat there shivering. Messy, dark green hair matted his head, trembling along with him, and the large, green eyes the boy had were dull. Shock was setting in, the detective noted; they were fairly obvious signs that he had seen plenty of times.

The boy twitched in the empty room, his eyes looking up to the glass window to stare right into the detective's eyes. It was almost as if he could see them through the shaded glass.

Tsukauchi's breath hitched and hands trembled minutely. Almost in slow motion, he turned to the officer leading him here. "What is going on? Why is there a _child _inside that room?"

"That…" the officer was pensive, apologetic. "The boy pleaded to be put in the most secure location we had."

"And you just did as he asked?" Tsukauchi's Quirk registered the man as being truthful. There were a great many things that could deceive a similar Polygraph Quirk, but his Lie Detector was in a league of its own.

He knew lies. Knew them like he knew the back of his hand, and the fact that the officer wasn't lying was indicative that something was wrong.

"It- it wasn't my order. I'm- just… here." The officer was clearly put off by even his own orders, and his hands slid a couple pages over to the detective.

Idly, Tsukauchi took the papers, frowning as he read over the information. More specifically, the part where it listed the boy's… Quirks. The fact that multiple distinct powers existed within one person was impossible.

His friend had only told him of the one such outlier, but a six-year old boy wasn't them. Now though, now he had to wonder why the boy's originally recorded Quirk had been erased by _multiple_ others.

"Why does it say that he used to have exotic energy-kinesis, but suddenly have…" he frowned at the more technical names of all of them. They were horrifying in a way he never knew a kid could be. "These? What happened?"

The officer stuttered to answer, his voice meek. "We- we don't know. The Quirk assessments of the boy discovered that he could sense and partially interact with some form of energy broadcast, but for some reason, none of the equipment could pick up on it. His… new Quirks were seen in the robbery yesterday."

All true, the detective noted. However, all these Quirks being used in the high-stress situation of a robbery, and probably having trouble controlling all his new powers was a piece to the puzzle that was slowly coming undone.

If those Quirks had been used… Tsukauchi could see how things turned out the way they did.

"Where's the child's parent or guardian?" He asked, flipping through the pages of information that was proposed to be his new Quirks.

"His mother is currently being sedated in the Musutafu Emergency room criminal holding beds. She apparently got heavily injured when the boy tried to stop the robbers, and he promptly went to saving her… along with augmenting her. Woof." Tsukauchi turned to find the police chief, Kenji Tsuragamae, looking at him with tired eyes. If those eyes weren't on the head of a beagle, then the detective would say they were much more depressing than they actually looked.

The beagle headed man barked over to the silent officer next to the detective. "Woof. You're free to go back to your station, Officer Nichijo. We can handle it from here."

Tsukauchi waited till the man had bowed and left, eyeing the room with the boy again. The child had gone back to staring off into space, flinching every once in awhile. "Can you finally tell me what's going on? I think you've left out quite a bit of information on those background sheets provided."

"It's necessary precaution. Recovery Girl specifically requested for this, and even All Might is sponsoring the child for therapy, if needed. Woof."

The detective's eyes widened at the big time names being thrown around. Sure the child had powerful abilities, and his situation was rather… odd to say the least. However, for those two heroes to get involved, something else must have been going on.

"What happened at that robbery?" There was no more cause for beating around the bush now.

The chief sighed. "I cannot say most of it, but the boy used his new Quirks to incapacitate, to an extreme degree, both the villains and heroes that went to save him. Woof… Not only that, he basically walked out of there without any officer moving to stop him. They later informed us that the boy had a mind controlling Quirk along with the rest that were previously seen. Woof."

Tsukauchi's eyebrows shot past any reasonable height. Everything said was as truthful as the chief could be, and some fanciful story about a _child _beating heroes and villains before running off was just a little too much to think about. He almost believed that his Quirk was under some nullification ability.

"Then, why is he here? With those Quirks, he'd be able to run if he wanted to."

"_That_," the chief stressed, "Is what you're here for, and to see if the sponsorships given by each hero need extra consulting."

There it was. His job was finally making sense. A boy with Quirks that each were extremely powerful by themselves, the odd coincidences that surrounded the situation, and why he had to interrogate the boy. It all bled together to make the picture clear to him. The mind controlling Quirk was just the confounding variable that needed to be verified, especially in this situation.

He paused to press the button that linked their room's intercoms. "Hello, can you hear me?"

The boy jumped as expected, head dancing around till it fell back to the glass, his eyes somehow finding something. A tentative nod was all the detective needed to continue.

"My name is Tsukauchi Naomasa, I'm part of the police force of Musutafu. Is there anything you want, or that we can accommodate you with before we begin?"

The green-haired child nodded, trembling. "W-where's my mommy?"

"She's safe." Tsukauchi said.

"N-no, we- I didn't finish." The boy stuttered. "Her-" he looked up as if searching his head for the answer. "Adder-nail glands are making too much… stuff. We- I need to help her."

The detective cocked his head at the broken speech. There were small lies whenever he switched between plural and singular tenses, but they weren't making the whole message false.

"Don't worry." He said, drawing the boy's attention again. "We'll make sure to keep her safe until we finish, and then you'll have our full cooperation."

Tsukauchi felt a little sick talking to a child like this. His words weren't lies, but keeping a boy so young locked in a cold, steel room was pushing all his buttons. At least, as he turned to the police chief, he found that the beagle-headed man was already telling someone to keep an eye on the boy's augmented mother.

Feeling a bit in a hurry himself, he quickly moved on. "I'm going to ask you some questions, but if you don't want to answer, then you don't need to answer, alright… good, now, can you tell me why you turned yourself in?"

"I- I want to be a hero. B- but we- I did something bad."

The detective frowned. Everything was true, but again, the was a lie when the boy switched between 'we' and 'I'. "Could it be someone is forcing you to do this?"

A clear shake of denial was all he got. It was resolute, without any of the previous jittery tension. "No, they-" he pointed to his head. "They're up here. Nine of them. Th- they tell me things... I don't think they are nice people."

Again, the boy told the truth, and Tsukauchi mouthed schizophrenia to the chief, wondering a bit on the child's new Quirk. Perhaps it was something that changed Quirks based on the personality of the controller? It fit a theme for a single Quirk, if a very loose one.

Still, he had something that would protect the child against some charges. The notions of All Might's sponsorship suddenly gaining a bit of ground. All in all, the couple questions he asked had answered almost everything he needed.

Now, though, he had to ask the question at the tip of everyone's minds. "Have you used your… mind controlling Quirk on All Might or Recovery Girl?"

The boy went as pale as a sheet, and the detective idly noticed the smattering of frecles on the youth's face. "N- no! We- I used it by mistake first, but I just _talked_ to them!"

Another truth, to his utter relief. The breath he had been holding was released, and now he just had to relegate what minor slap on the wrist the kid would get to someone responsible.

He had caused damage, sure. His Quirks were definitely deadly, but the fact that the only deaths were those by the hands of robbers also worked in the kid's favor. Only the mental instability was a cause for concern. However, with the support of Japan's number one hero as well as Recovery Girl, the boy would hopefully fix the presented problems.

Tsukauchi settled away from the tense atmosphere. The kid was still trembling, but the detective wanted to ease some of the presented worries. "Don't worry kid, you're not in trouble. In fact, I want to say a good job for helping stop those villains."

He didn't mention the fact that unlicensed Quirk use was illegal. It wasn't the whole truth, but neither was it a lie. This was a delicate situation, after all. Calm deescalation was needed.

"Now, what was that about wanting to be a hero?"

It was instant. The moment the words left his mouth, the boy clammed up, shaking in his seat and face boring into the floor. Tsukauchi almost wondered where he went wrong before the boy spoke in small, trembling tones.

"I- I don't know if I _can _be a hero anymore."

The detective froze where he stood. Somewhere beside him he heard the police chief barking into his phone, ordering men to move elsewhere. An innocent boy was proven as such, and they needed them out patrolling once more.

However, Tsukauchi never moved. All he did was stare at the trembling boy in a room never meant for him. Sometimes he hated it when he heard the truth. Truths were things that rarely ever were something happy.

Because, even if he only knew the boy for a couple of minutes, Izuku Midoriya deserved for those last words to be a lie.

* * *

_Because I wanted to write a BNHA fanfic, and the best I could come up with that seemed cool and not done (as much) was an Quirk Izuku. However, there's a twist that I made semi-coincide with things. It's explained a bit, but for those of you who have no idea what happened, Izuku just hijacked a couple shards with his Quirk, but in doing so the shards found him, sending enough information along with their recent host's personality to recreate their powers as sort of Quirks. It's iffy at best, but works in a way. _

_For those of you who have no idea what that means, and even I'm having a little doubts on my explanation, then just know that Izuku gained a couple of powers from the worst of villains for the best of reasons. Of course, like all good things, there are drawbacks. Some of which as plain to see, and some that are sprinkled through this prologue. _

_Now, do you need to know either Worm or My Hero Academia before reading this? No. Though, knowing a bit about both could make it more enjoyable. Or less, who am I to know._

_If you still have questions, which is entirely possible, I can try to fix things as I go, and address them in my next Author's note. _

_As always, Enjoy!_


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I do not own My Hero Academia, nor Worm. Those belong to Kohei Hirokoshi and Wildbow respectively.

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Medic(1)

Izuku needed to get out. His feet quickened as he moved, shuffling his books into his bag, and pulling his notebook into his chest. No matter what, he wanted absolutely no one to read this.

Especially the therapist the police had set him with.

Sounds trickled into his ears, jests and goads that bit at the back of his head. The sounds of the classroom echoing down the small school as he made his way out.

He made it to the small dirt courtyard at the back before they found him. More voices echoed from outside and inside, and Izuku wasn't good enough to dull both. Instead, he decided to listen to the least hurtful one.

"What's this? Where're ya going, ya stupid nerd?" It was a horrible insult, all things considered, and Izuku had half the mind to even wonder how they were even the same age.

Then again, they were ten, and the green-haired boy knew he wasn't the best of ten year old to be compared to. He still felt that they could do better. The voices in his head certainly did.

Still, the boy with tiny, bat-like wings wasn't done yet. Izuku could see that his tense silence only aggravated the bully, but he wasn't about to say that he was busy trying to hold back the voices from entering his thoughts. One of them was extraordinarily good at noticing when he let up.

However, the bully wasn't giving up. A couple of his friends jeered behind him, mocking the bat-winged boy for being stood up to by a weak looking transfer.

This reached it's climax as the bully forcefully tore into Izuku's hands, snatching his notebook despite the deathgrip he had on it. A startled cry came from his throat, and the bullies smiled as they found something that broke his self imposed silence. More of them came in to hold Izuku back as the one who snatched his book began to rifle through it.

His face twisted, squinting at whatever was written. "What the hell is this? Some other language? Did your parents not teach you Japanese?"

"No that's-" Izuku cut himself off. That was Riley's notebook. He needed that; only holding onto Riley's Quirk let him even understand. It would be forgotten otherwise. However, they wanted to see him squirm, but if they destroyed that...

All that occupied his thoughts was a woman currently in the ER, unconscious and unresponsive. Everytime she woke up it would be screaming. She seeked to harm; a berserker with a body capable of breaking bodies with ease.

Everytime he tried to finally help, they'd need to sedate her once more.

Izuku felt some of his control waver. He could feel their Quirks try to come to him, slinking from the back of his mind like parasites that finally found a host. He snapped back at them in a panic, holding off all but three.

"Fight them! Kill them! Let me feel the growth!" A maddening howl echoed along his thoughts. Along with it was an almost overwhelming sense of bloodlust and hunger that shook the young boy to his bones.

Behind it, there was a high-pitched voice that seemed to fail at trying to sound cute. "Aww, didn't you need that? They're not very nice."

Curiosity peeked through most of the voice, but the rest was madness. Grotesque images spilled into the back of his head so fast he only had time to gag at some of the things that made sense.

The last was slow to speak, but when they did Izuku shivered. It was an instinctive response he gathered from it. Like being encased in a thick coat of squirming insects and slime.

"Hello again, Izuku, It's nice to see you're doing well." There was nothing wrong with the way the voice spoke. In fact, it was almost like listening to silk and honey, engrossing and enticing.

Everything about it was geared to him. To let him feel comfortable and safe even when he knew beyond a reasonable doubt that it should be the opposite, and that's what scared him the most. Because it did.

"You're n- not real," he whispered to himself, trying to remember what the therapist's mantra was. "They're not real. Just as- aspects of your Quirk; drone them out like always. D- don't let them in."

The first voice was still screaming at the back of his head, ringing his ears as it roared. A few high-pitched questions rocked the rest of his thoughts; ranging from trying to find how Quirks work to how the supposed modifications to his mother went. They both were shuffled slowly to the background along with the feelings and images that each of them tried to enforce on him, becoming a fuzzy haze of noise.

Trouble spoke last, basically whispering into his ear as it left a few words before it disappeared to the others. "We're about as real to you as you are to us, Izuku. Do call back soon; some of us are quite bored."

A sort of buzzing silence took his thoughts. Breath left his lips in a huff, and tears were gathering in his eyes. It was as terrifying as the last time he let them through.

"Hey Midoriya! I'm here to pick you up!" The call broke him from his panic, and he looked up to find a blurry cop car with lights flashing. Whether that scared the bullies or his near panic attack from letting his walls down was the thing that drove them off, Izuku didn't care.

The fact that they had mercifully left his notebook behind was all that mattered.

He picked it up, gingerly paying attention to several crumpled and torn pages. A little tape would fix it, but he just hoped some of the chemistry equations and diagrams inside weren't too damaged.

After flipping through some of the important parts, he stuffed the notebook between two heavy textbooks in his bag. Something he felt he should've done in the first place.

Still, there were a great many things he should have done. Many he regrets and many he doesn't, but those thoughts would drive his therapist up a wall. They weren't natural. Just like his Quirk.

His probable savior was waiting in the car, a tense smile on his face as Izuku finally turned to him. Perhaps he had seen too much, or had acted too late only to see Izuku about to lose it, but the boy could definitely feel the tension surrounding him.

"T- thank you, sir." He said, voice stuttering. It was awkward to once know how to talk then fall back to his socially awkward self. Made him feel naked, but the Quirk -and personality that came with it- were things that the boy didn't like bringing any closer.

The officer nodded. "No problem. How are you feeling?" He tensed, hand roaming a bit to the side pocket of his door.

Izuku saw it. The action wasn't meant to be hidden, though. It was more for the policeman's sake than Izuku's; a shot of adrenaline that would hope to counteract the mind controlling Quirk he showed.

There really was no fault to anyone for being so jittery. Izuku kept finding more about his new Quirks every time he tried to control them, and that only served to increase their wariness as they figured his mind controlling Quirk alone had a possibility of being permanent. All that meant was that Izuku had probably seen every single member of the police force after two years.

"How was school?" The officer of today asked suddenly, pulling down the road towards the hospital.

"The same. I d- don't think we need to transfer a- again, though."

"Really?" The man's pitch squeaked a little, flinching a bit at how Izuku glanced at him.

Green hair trembled as he sighed, tension dripping out of him as he saw the man's face. It was the same one that reminded him that his dream was dead. All he wanted now was to fix his mom. "Yes, I… I don't want to keep moving around. T- this is the fifth school this year."

"Right, right, I'll get on it. The chief will be informed." Cars zoomed by as the police spent a few moments too long at the light. "You won't try to use two Quirks at once again, right?"

This time Izuku flinched. "No…"

A nod was all the officer gave him, focusing then on the road. He never really said more for the rest of the trip, and Izuku knew it would be like that. If it wasn't for the personalities attached to them, his new Quirks would have made him a powerhouse of heroic proportions.

Now though, he was just a kid with a possibility of becoming a monster.

They reached the hospital a couple minutes later, pulling up alongside an open entrance for another two policemen to escort him. Disinfectant and lemon met his nose, but he had long grown used to those smells. The hallways were the thing that he hadn't.

It was the fourth hospital they moved to, hoping that a newer one would have better defenses against the berzerk woman. A fanciful idea, but one Izuku was guilty of.

After a particularly long hallway, Izuku entered a door with 'Inko Midoriya' on the plaque outside. His breathing hitched for a second as he walked in, eyes finding the woman who he once knew as his mom just laying there, unmoving except for the rise and fall of her chest.

Several other machines had been hooked up to her, beeping and whirring. Everything was positive, Izuku knew; he had heard enough of them over the years as well as retained enough of Riley's knowledge to actually understand what everything meant. It was a sobering thought. That he learned more from those… people than he had by himself.

Perhaps it was just his age making the difference, but Izuku didn't really have anyone close enough to compare to. There had been one. Though, he had had to leave in accordance to the terms of his small punishment.

"Good afternoon, Izuku, how are you today?" A woman sat in a chair near his mother, the kindest smile he had seen all day on her face. There was another in the room, a pro hero he hadn't seen before, but they were young enough that they hadn't had much time on the TV.

Izuku felt his features loosen up, a smile finally reaching his face. Despite all his problems, the horrible voices in his head, and the potential villain most of the policemen saw in him, heroes always were something close to his heart. The woman across from him was now a second to his mother.

"H- hello, Miss Hikiru, I'm fine." Though, it might have been the small crush the boy was developing on the blonde haired woman across from him. She had been kind, understanding, and hadn't run the second he lost control during his sessions. Everything a young, impressionable boy wanted.

The smile the woman sent him put butterflies into his stomach. "That's good. I'm glad you're going to school again. Tell me about your time there."

"O-oh okay, well I've been trying to understand some of R- Riley's Quirk. It doesn't conform to modern medicine, a- and I think that some of the things that come to mind don't really match up to our laws of chemistry oor biology. Maybe it works of a different scale than norm-"

"Izuku," the boy stopped rambling as Miss Hikiru called out. "Don't tell me you are using your Quirk in class instead of paying attention."

Green met red as Izuku's face turned a few shades darker, his eyes finding the floor much more appealing. "N- no, I mean, I've g- gotten better at not… losing to o- one."

"Really?" Miss Hikiru leaned in, one arm propped against her knee and hand folding on her chin. She gave a look to the hero standing nearby, and he nodded slightly before she turned back to Izuku. "Show me."

The boy nodded, happy to finally show his crush something. They had only been talking, and he had never used his Quirk. Talked about it? Sure. Theorized about it? More often than Izuku could count.

However, while she had shown interest in his abilities, his inability to actively hold onto one long enough to do anything stopped them in their tacks. He had always felt sad that he couldn't show her when it seemed like she really wanted to see what happened.

So now, Izuku closed his eyes and fell into his mind. It was blurry, but his original Quirk was still there, in his head. Whatever happened during the process of gaining the new ones had somehow crippled it to only being able to push and pull on the nine in his head.

He found himself in a pictured world of inky blackness, himself a dull green sphere in the center of whatever universe his mind conjured up. Connected to him by long green chains that extended into the darkness were the nine.

They were far from him. Their voices scraping against the walls of his mind like incessant tigers caught in a trap, and Izuku feared what would happened should he let all those tigers out. Instead, he pushed more, forcing all of them till he could barely hear the ones that did talk.

Finished with that, the boy reached out, feeling around the corners of his mind for the correct one. He passed one that was a bubbling pink and red, constantly changing in response to anything and everything. It screeched and roared at him, and Izuku could tell that somehow it hated being like this. Being locked away without struggle. Still, he passed it, looking for the one he needed.

Another was a perfect sphere, enclosed in such a way that there were no seams. Some faint buzzing always seemed to come from it as he passed. There was a sort of calm rage in it; a purposeful anger that spelled nothing good. It was one of the silent ones, though, and Izuku was always hesitant to pull on it. He felt as if there was a trap waiting for him if he did.

The next one he passed was fire. A roiling mass of insanity and flame that never seemed to end. It didn't scream at him as his senses passed; all it did was blaze brighter, challenging and pleading him in the same way a child did.

A crystal was next. Crinkling in what he could only see as disgust when he grew closer. Sheets of what looked to be glass pulling over itself as it suddenly cracked, and a ear splitting scream rang in his head the next.

Another silent one, Izuku noted. It was sleeping, shifting almost like a tear in the space of his head. Almost languidly, it felt him pass, shifting in a way that promised harm should he draw near. Safe to say, Izuku pushed that one as far from him as possible.

"Hello again, Izuku."

The boy shivered, pausing only to push that one away again. He didn't need to look at it or care for that one; it wasn't worth the effort.

He found another that thrummed and sang with different tones, asking and prodding in ways that struck his heartstrings. They were lies. One only had to look at the grotesque and ruined surface of the thing to know. And Izuku pushed it before he wanted to talk to it.

There was only two left, a silent one and one that vibrated with excitement. He steered clear of the monochrome one; its surface flickering like static, but nary a sound came from it. It was watching him, waiting, and it was the only one Izuku felt he had no control over. A loose cannon that would take control rather than the other way around.

It was dangerous, but Izuku had been around them for the past four years, pushing them so he could maintain some semblance of sanity. His powers had been shrunk to just pushing and pulling. These new so called 'expressions' of his Quirk were something he had no clue of.

Though, that didn't matter now. All the boy focused on was slowly pulling the Quirk that was a mismatch of wires, metal, and giggling flesh closer to himself. At the same time, he pushed all the rest as far away as possible.

A simple concept, sure. All he had to do was push and pull at the same time, but that's exactly where he kept hitting snags.

Doing more than one action at once was like trying to walk onto oncoming traffic while only being able to look forwards and use your peripherals to see oncoming cars. He could see them coming, but at the same time, if he wasn't careful, it would already be too late.

He felt Riley's Quirk close in on him slowly, and he finally felt his mind open up. Knowledge of sciences he didn't know, schematics of super viruses, specifics of human augmentation, and everything in between were being fed into his brain. Izuku clutched his head in the real world, feeling a throbbing headache at it all.

However, as he held tight to the connection and pushed the others away, he couldn't help but smile. Finally, he could hold one without losing himself in trying to keep the rest away.

"Wow! This is cool! I can finally see, and feel things!" A sing song voice chirped in his head, images of butchered bodies flashing as she spoke.

Izuku nearly gagged again, but held onto his links as well as his stomach. He had forgot that pulling one this close let him experience their every insane thought. Or probably the ones that they wanted him to see. Still, it was a victory he would take.

His eyes opened to find Miss Hikiru smiling back at him, and Izuku beamed a smile back. "I did it!"

"That's good, Izuku." She laughed, her hand falling into her pocket for a moment as she fiddled with something. "I'm happy for you."

Izuku nodded, finding happiness in actually accomplishing something. He took in his mother's sleeping form, and finally… finally, a solution worked its way into his head. The solution seeming so easy that he felt horrible for not even thinking of it sooner.

As he moved, Riley spoke in the back of his head. "Hey! Why are you moving? I wanna be in control! This isn't fair!"

That was impossible, Izuku wanted to say. He had failed enough times to know that there was absolutely no way of them taking over his body, and all he was worried about was the insanity and headache that not keeping them in check would cause.

However, as Riley began metaphorically thrashing around in his head, he panicked. Not because his previous thoughts were void, but because he could feel his control of her Quirk slipping. The information in his head seemed to be flowing out faster the further she broke away from him until the rest of the nine rushed him again.

Tears nearly sprung up into his eyes as he forced all of them to the back of his head. They pretty much slammed into his mental walls with metaphysical crashes that rang out into the darkness of his mind.

Apparently his distraught was visible as Miss Hikiru looked at him, her hand twitching towards her pocket. "Did something happen?"

"... yeah. I-" there was a knock on the door, heavy and purposeful. The wood shook a little as they entered a second later.

A massive man stood in the doorway, bulging muscles trembled with uncontained power as he moved. His eyes were a piercing blue, staring into Izuku like he knew the boy, and what he saw was only the very best. Blonde hair topped the man's head, folding into two gravity defying locked that looked almost like rabbit ears.

"I Am Here…" he coughed a bit as Miss Hikiru 'shushed' him, harshly drawing out the reprimand. "I mean, I have come to check on you, Midoriya-boy. How are you? I can only believe good things about you!"

The mountain of a man paused as he noticed the clearly down boy, and the clear water almost streaming from his eyes. Izuku's face was twisted in disappointment, bitten lips and hardened frown. It was a face not fit for a boy his age.

"Did I… miss something?" Izuku learned that All Might sometimes had no tact.

* * *

_So, I decided to crank this out. Chapter length will probably increase as time goes on, and I catch my stride. I have written a fairly tentative outline for this, so I have an idea where this should and will go. _

_Also, for the questions that were asked. I hope this also answers most of them. As for some changes, I just changed Jack's power to include anyone with powers, including Quirks. As for Cherish's abilities, I don't think there would be as much panic till they figure out the specifics. _

_In a way, yes, Izuku is now a sort of Butcher to the S9. Also, this will become an OP Izuku fic. Just slowly. He needs to earn each as when they first appeared the S9 were as confused as Izuku, so there was no resistance to Izuku using what they thought were their own abilities. _

_As always, Enjoy!_


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **I do not own My Hero Academia, nor Worm. Those belong to Kohei Hirokoshi and Wildbow respectively.

* * *

Medic(2)

If Izuku asked ten people to give an example of justice and heroism at random, nine would respond All Might. The others were uncultured in the green-haired boy's position.

Still, the fact stood that All Might was a figure of awe in almost everyone's eyes. He was a hero that many would give an arm and a leg to just meet, and Izuku shivered at the thought of what they would do if they figured Izuku had his undivided attention.

Or if they found the man bowing before the boy, apologizing profusely.

"I am terribly sorry, Midoriya-boy! My insensitive actions have caused you undue distress."

Despite interacting with the man nearly every week, Izuku knew one thing. No matter how many times he interacted with his hero, he always felt guilty. A deep seeded guilt that was built upon by his own hand, and maintained by his selfish machinations.

"I- it's fine, All Might!" Izuku chirped, embarrassment warring with regret. His voice sounded too childish and vulnerable; exactly what would tug the larger man's heartstrings. It sickened him to know that he didn't need to actually have a Quirk to know what to do now.

However, Izuku couldn't change his voice just as much as All Might couldn't change how much he cared. They would both remember the day they met. One being the hero who listened to a boy who was in need of help. While the other was a boy with a shattered dream; a dream long buried under the weight of the personalities stuck in his mind.

"Well in that case," All Might straightened, his height towering over the young child in a way that didn't seem too threatening. In fact, all it brought was warmth. "I thank you for being so understanding, my boy! I've been meaning to ask you how your schooling was going? Have you made plenty friends?"

Izuku winced, trying not to look at his hero's expecting face. "W- we had to transfer again."

"Oh…" All Might paled, eyes glancing at the others in the room. Miss Hikiru was shaking her head while crossing her arms in an 'X' while the other pro hero was busy twisting his hands into some shape.

"Ah," All Might announced, drawing Izuku to look at what the man was actually doing. He found himself presented with an elaborate, wooden horse. "Have you met… Kamui Woods?" There was a nod. "Yes, he recently just finished a couple years of being a sidekick. I believe he worked in Okinawa until he moved here, correct?"

"I have." Kamui Woods nodded, trying to smile despite not having a mouth. Izuku accepted the gesture regardless. "Thank you for remembering."

"Of course! I remember every aspiring hero; they're the pillars that hold society up!" All Might smiled, a blinding, warming smile that made everyone in the room at ease. He turned back to Izuku, noticing that the wooden horse had been relocated to his mother's bedside. "Speaking of which, have you thought on my offer lately? While your… problems may be a little concerning, I know your heart is in the right place! You can make a fine hero."

The boy choked back something halfway between a sob and a cough. It was always… painful to hear his hero say something like that. Where there should have been pride, there was only crushing guilt.

Still, Izuku smiled as best as he could. "I- I'm still thinking… M- maybe in a bit more time. With a b- bit more c- control."

"Take your time then, Midoriya-boy." All Might's features softened as his gaze glance back to the green-haired boy's mother. "Should you need me, always remember," the massive hero tapped Izuku's chest. "I am here."

Izuku nodded fervently. It was like a warm blanket was placed over his worries, but that was it. They were just hidden underneath something warm and soft. Though, the young boy took that brief recompense for all it was worth.

Suddenly, the sound of a phone ringing pulled his attention back to the room. All Might had turned around to speak in hushed tones with someone else, and only turned to give the others in the room a reassuring smile.

He finished, clicking his phone closed after a few minutes of speaking before walking straight to a window. The ever present smile on his face wavered for only a second.

"I've got to step out for a moment. Some American gang apparently is nestling in Japan at the moment, but do not fear, they'll be dealt with shortly." All Might leaped out the window without a second thought, and the occupants of the room were left with the fact that a man jumping five stories was considered normal.

Miss Hikiru hummed to bring Izuku's attention over to her. "He gets more impressive every time I see him." Her hand cupped her cheek, blue eyes staring into Izuku's greens. "Are you feeling better now?"

Izuku nodded, and began regaling his experiences at her while she happily listened, a calm, comforting smile on her face. He talked about his days since he last saw her, explaining how he singled out one of his Quirks to, and simply talked till he ran out of things to say.

Miss Hikiru responded whenever needed, giving the boy a smile whenever he paused for a minute. It worked. Izuku opened up, and spoke about his hobbies of hero watching. However, there was an emphasis on subjects like organic chemistry coming into their discussions with other fields of psychology being added in.

In the end, Izuku left the hospital to be driven back to his home. Or, more like a supervised apartment. A couple policemen were there, watching almost every move he made, and only really left after he got situated at home.

They never spoke more than a few words to the boy. Often in hushed voices, the ten year-old heard them ask why they were keeping watch over him. Izuku never listened to the rest.

He had heard the word 'monster' too many times to count.

It was the contrast that centered him. All Might and Miss Hikiru were people that Izuku knew, and the policemen were switched enough that the young boy lost track a while ago. Their words wounded him, but at the same time, he felt he needed them to.

His Quirks were dangerous. They brought with them a mental instability that put so many people at risk if Izuku ever let them have their way… well, the police knew the dangers. Yet, All Might knew the dangers as well; even fought them when the young boy still hadn't had quite the control he did now.

That was the dividing line in Izuku's head. The people that saw and feared, and the ones who saw and hoped. And that distinction was what gave him so much disgust for one of his Quirks.

The one that sparked All Might's help. The very same one that twisted the idea that he was a child in need of help, that he was a hero who just wanted to help, but his Quirk held him back.

All Might was partial to kids. Everyone knew that. And that wouldn't have been a problem if Izuku hadn't come along. With the number one hero believing in the best to be in everyone, Izuku tugged on every heartstring, turned every knob, and struck every cord to have him basically become a partial ward of the 'bringer of peace'.

All without even meaning to.

When Izuku had first gained his new Quirks, they didn't go out of control, he did. Everything was happening so quickly, and Izuku just pulled on all he had. There were voices in his head, telling him things, screaming at him, and making images that would drive a man insane.

Izuku is pretty sure he lost bits of himself that day. Whether in the realization of his actions, or his twisting All Might without even realizing, the boy wasn't sure when. All he knew was the fact that everything had changed, and he had to change with them.

So, as much as he desperately wanted to, Izuku couldn't be a hero. As much as his mind told him that he had a chance at fulfilling his dream, he just couldn't form the resolve. He was forced to move day by day, regret and guilt taking his thoughts instead of hope.

Still, hope was needed sometimes. He had experienced it right before All Might showed up. A tiny glimmer that peaked through his otherwise darker thoughts, and showed him a path he had long let crumble.

It was a longshot. Perhaps a bit stupid, but Izuku was confident. He had been desensitized to things a child should never become used to. From that false strength, though, he had showed that, even for a moment, his new Quirks could become his. Truly his.

The only problem being the fact that he can lose his grip on them anytime the personality attached decided they wanted to. A rather serious problem no matter how he wanted to apply them, but one he had the other hand, the solutions were many. However, there was only one sure-fire solution; one that Izuku physically recoiled at when he considered it.

Though, considering it was all he needed to do. Because the idea festered in his brain as the days went by. As he went to and from school, as the hospital trips came in longer intervals, as All Might was off doing his heroic deeds, and as he kept telling Miss Hikiru that everything was fine.

It wasn't fine. Nothing ever was fine while he could only see his mother in a coma, and everytime he saw his hero all he felt was guilt.

Izuku could lie to others, but not himself. He needed his Quirks. He needed to control them. He needed to understand them. Most of all, he wanted to at least right some of his wrongs.

So, after five or so days of back and forth, he finally pulled on a single Quirk. It didn't resist; just leaned into his pull as if to reassure him that his decision was correct. Izuku knew that it wasn't.

He knew about the man in this Quirk. The monster called Jack who understood that Izuku understood. It was intrinsic; this feeling of understanding. Something that both amazed and terrified Izuku every time he felt it.

Perhaps it was his original Quirk protecting him, but the personalities couldn't use or affect the Quirks they were bonded to besides struggling in his grasp. There was one outlier, though. Jack had his most dangerous weapon: the words Izuku most desperately wanted. And they were the sharpest of blades.

"I see we can finally talk; discuss how this partnership can progress." The words were smooth, patient, and caring. Something that Izuku was lacking in his years of neglect.

Izuku could see how they would goad him. He knew just as much as Jack did how powerful words can be when used in the right order. Just as much as he knew Jack and his Quirk.

The green-haired boy had to bring the conversation back into his pace. As soon as Jack takes hold of it, there would only be a twisting spiral of madness that followed. "D- don't think I don't k- know what you're trying to do. You're just a Quirk! Y- you should listen to me!"

"Ah, back to the same arguments again." Jack sighed, chiding Izuku as if he were his son. "I do grow tired of this back and forth. It's too repetitive to just keep saying how real we are when you just won't listen. Here I was expecting some basic human decency… or at least some food. We can't really eat, but experiencing it via you is rather interesting."

"W- what does that even mean?" Izuku demanded, ignoring most of Jack's words. "W- why do you t- think you are real?"

Jack laughed. "My dear friend, how real do you want us to be?"

Izuku shivered. He only had an inkling of what the man was scratching at; a barebones rendition of what that actually meant. They were in Izuku's head, and expressed through the boy himself.

"I- if you want something, j- just say it."

"Finally, we get to the meat of the matter." Izuku could tell the man would be smiling if he had a body. "If my guess is correct, you want to use my… Quirk to understand the others; bring them under your thumb, if you will. I can't really speak with them like you can, but we can share a bit. Like the fact that we're all bored being chained up like rabid dogs. Do we look like dogs to you?"

Izuku sniffed. "A bit."

"Wha- did you just make a joke?" Jack faltered a bit, his incredulity getting the better of him before a laugh broke Izuku's thoughts. "Oh wow, I didn't think you had it in you. You should joke a bit more, Izuku, makes you a bit more approachable. Though, that still doesn't subtract from the boredom we're facing. I think a proposal is needed: you can use my Quirk, and in return, you do something for me."

Izuku knew it couldn't be good, but he couldn't stop now. Not when he was so close. "W- what is it?"

"Nothing too much. Just, kill someone every time you use my Quirk." Izuku froze on the spot. His ears were ringing slightly as if what he just heard was a lie.

Jack's voice broke into clarification. "Now, now, no need to freak out too bad. I'm not asking you to start murdering babies. You want to be a hero, right? There's plenty of heinous fiends out there that you can use my Quirk anytime you want. You'd probably be doing the world a favor. Think about it; the invincible hero willing to go the extra step for true peace. People wou-"

"Stop it!" Izuku screeched, the silence of his small apartment coming back to him. "H- heroes don't kill people! Y- you're just a villain!"

"Perhaps," Jack reasoned. "But I find that heroes and villains are not really that different in the first place."

Izuku slammed Jack into the back of his head before the man could say anymore. Everything was ringing. He felt tears settling just behind his eyes, and his breath came out in trembles.

It should have been clear in the first place. Izuku tried to manipulate someone who had been doing so for who knows how many years, but the results only pushed more disgust in the young boy's direction.

However, getting depressed about it wasn't the way to go. He had experienced enough drawbacks to be mature enough about problems like these.

Jack's game was one Izuku knew the outcome of. A horrible puppet pushed around by the whims of the monsters inside of him. Something that Izuku feared he would become every waking moment.

Yet, that fear was pushed aside; shoved to the back of his mind along with Jack. Getting the monster's help was one thing, but there were plenty of other ways he could try to control his Quirks. Ones that, while they might be effective, he wasn't one hundred percent sure like he was with Jack's.

In the end, it all boiled down to a small boy sitting alone in a smaller apartment, a laptop shining in the dark along his legs. Meditation techniques, concentration manuals, and even an odd animal training booklet ran across his screen.

Izuku searched, tested, and lamented each of them, hoping that one would work. Because the alternative was chasing his heels, and it only fueled his growing guilt.

Guilt due to the fact that, even for a moment, Izuku considered Jack's offer.

* * *

_Things are not really looking up. I'm trying to force Izuku into a decision, and it's coming soon. These have just been setup chapters to feed into the tone, and explain a few things. Something has to blow up before Izuku collapses. _

_Now, I slightly apologize for having odd update times. I'm currently on vacation, and also am sick(because the world hates me I guess). Anyways, that just means things will be weird. _

_Also, I want to say that there are several ways that I can go about with the Nine's powers. I can twist them to fit Izuku while still keeping their abilities similar, saying that it was just an odd second trigger, or I can keep them the exact same. It really doesn't change the story; just adds a little bit of freshness to the same powers. Before anyone asks, though, I gotta say that Izuku will not get OFA. _

_And if you see any problems, please tell me. I try to fix things as fast as I can. _

_As Always, Enjoy!_


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **I do not own My Hero Academia, nor Worm. Those belong to Kohei Hirokoshi and Wildbow respectively.

* * *

Medic(3)

"...and the recent series of robberies seem to stem from multiple people. I can only state that the Quirkless are somehow involved in these injustices as a product of our primarily Quirk-filled society."

Izuku twitched as he half listened to the television in the corner of the hospital room. His mind was more paying attention to slowly tugging on a particular Quirk, and only frowned as the personality behind it began to struggle a bit. There was no conflict or fights to attend to. As such, the personality wanted nothing to do with the boy right now.

Which was perfect for his experiment.

"I agree with some of your statements, Mister Uchitake, but you can't honestly believe that Quirkless people are behind these problems. A Quirk that can convince people that they're a different person entirely is a greater point of contention. Besides, there's also the fact that the up and coming American hero, Slipstream, has come over in accordance to the Longbow Heroics Laws due to All Might continuously missing, for a couple weeks might I add, this American gang that has arrived here. I for one think that something is amiss here."

Izuku's concentration faltered for a second, screams and inhuman roars blasted his eardrums for a moment too long. However, his grip on the Quirk remained stable. A mantra of conviction repeating back and forth through his head as sweat began to pile his brow.

This struggle had been going on too long. Exhaustion was curling around his thoughts, and he could only grit his teeth as the Quirk entered the range where he felt it take effect only to leave a moment later with phantasmal thrashing in its wake. Something was about to give.

Izuku was so close. He shoved the Quirk, shouldering it with all the strength he could muster. It tried to thrash; to escape, but he held on like his life depended on it.

"I'm sure All Might is having trouble dealing with all the rabble, though. The help of an aero-kinetic like Slipstream would be beneficial in taking down a gang that-"

Izuku focused solely on his task when he felt it. Flesh bubbled up from beneath his skin, growing rapidly like a purposeful cancer. It coated him, and molded around his form.

The suit of flesh rippled, trying to find something to react to. There was a hunger to it; a ceaseless desire to grow and adapt. However, there was nothing nearby. No threat to outperform; so, it flowed around Izuku, forming a replica of him but better.

His skin toughened, becoming a composite of skin, keratin, and thin calcium strips. Muscles became harder, weaving into stronger threads until they wrapped around Izuku's body like a warm sleeve. A cage of bone latticed over his body from there, building from the ends of the woven muscle fibers.

On the outside, Izuku looked the same. His stature stayed rather small for his age; dull, green eyes stared over a mess of dark green strands. Pale skin was his primary tone, yet it looked much healthier than before.

That was only the suit of flesh mimicking Izuku. His actual body was housed inside the protection of the suit, a slight regeneration healing the small aches and pains his actual body felt. From experience, he knew that that regeneration was barely a fraction of a fraction of the actual regeneration his flesh suit had.

He hadn't known much more than that, but now he didn't need to. The Quirk inside him was thrashing, trying to escape the stranglehold Izuku had on it. There was a time limit, and the time required to actually hold the Quirk in place, but he had done it.

"This is boring! Fight something! Your power is great, but you don't use it for anything!" A voice echoed in between his ears, raging. The lust for violence and conflict speared through the young boy's thoughts for a moment before the mantras he learned came to him.

Clarity reached his lips as he drowned out the voice, playing around with his newfound cloak of flesh. Each movement felt powerful, every step was as light as a feather despite how much he weighed, and Izuku marveled at how tough just his outer skin felt when he poked it. He wanted to spend his time figuring out more, but he had an experiment to complete.

Izuku held back a cheer as he lost the Quirk after another four or five minutes of struggle, the suit sloughing off of him before evaporating into a fine red mist while his breath coming back in rushed pants. A glance at the clock told him how long it took to actually accomplish his task.

Thirty minutes. His mind blanked at that number. It was so much exhausting effort for only a couple minutes of actual use. He huffed.

It was a start, at least.

"...in Musutafu." Izuku craned his neck from his sweat filled spot on the floor, the television taking his attention. There was now a hero flying on the screen; a skintight suit of light blue with silver accents in the shape of wind currents adorning his form. "Slipstream himself has reportedly been in contact with this gang several times in the past, and his detailed captures of multiple members states that they use Quirkless people as in betweens for their members with Quirks. His use of high-speed air currents is imperative for capturing these weaker members, and I feel All Might is lacking his delicate touch as he grows older. Just yesterday-"

Izuku clicked off the newscast. He had heard enough propaganda to know that whenever All Might was being degraded, it was probably trash news. The number one hero still believed in him when he didn't, so Izuku would believe in the man regardless. It didn't help the bitter feelings whenever he met his hero, but it did help ease his guilt.

Still, he had other things to worry about. Like the fact that he couldn't really move anything beyond bending a finger; exhaustion crippling him in a way he hadn't thought possible. Or maybe the fact that the door to the room swung open and a familiar gasp rang into his ears.

"Izuku!" Miss Hikiru rushed over to his side, cradling his head in her hands. "What on Earth happened? Are you okay?"

His head lolled in her hands, burying down a rosy blush at the sudden contact. "I- I'm fine! Just te- testing some of m- my Quirks!"

"Testing? Izuku, I thought you promised not to hastily do things without supervision!"

"I- I know, b- but I think I got it!" Izuku said, hoping his words would assuage whatever feelings his crush was having. "I c- can use my Q- Quirk."

Miss Hikiru paused for too long of a second, staring past Izuku to his still comatose mother before a resplendent smile broke her face. "That's wonderful Izuku! I'm so happy for you!"

Izuku was ecstatic with the praise, happily blushing and trying to squirm in her arms. The day was weeks in the making, but it just kept getting better and better.

Soon he would be able to fix everything.

His happy musings were broken as the door to the hospital room swung open, a costumed hero standing in the doorway. Skintight blue with accents of silver were the first thing that Izuku could see, and he suddenly felt as if there was a slight breeze traversing the room, except the window had been shut tight due to a storm warning earlier that day. A half mask that only covered the top of the man's head adorned the man's face protecting everything everything about his identity other than the light browns that lit up as soon as his gaze landed on Izuku.

"S- Slipstream!" Izuku stuttered, trying to rise even with his tired body. The hero who was out there supposedly coming to help All Might was talking to him, but one thought struck him in the middle of his haze. "W- what are you doing h- here?"

Slipstream turned to the boy, his face studying Izuku. He frowned for a second before sighing. "You are… Izuku Midoriya, correct?"

"Y- yes! A- are you here for m- me?"

Miss Hikiru pulled izuku closer, and the boy caught a scowl beginning to form on her lips. "I think you have the wrong room, sir. Your mannerisms are not really selling a good message for a child here. Also, I don't think I've heard of a Slipstream in Japan's hero roster, so I'm going to have to ask for an ID."

"I apologize for how my actions seemed. I'm not really… good with people." The man winced, reaching into one of the pockets on the silver belt he wore. Izuku noticed the fact that now he noticed the man had thicker partitions in his suit that covered some of the more vital parts on his body. "Izuku's records give a much more... loose approximation on his mental state. Seeing young Izuku so coherent was something I didn't expect. By the way," Slipstream handed Miss Hikiru a card. "That's my hero card."

Miss Hikiru flipped the card around, eyebrow rising. "You're American? Your Japanese is really good, though."

"Yes, I have the advantage of having a good teacher, and the Longbow Heroics Laws helped me in crossing the borders so that I could help in taking care of the gang that has… invaded Musutafu." Slipstream turned back to Izuku, his lips in a firm, purposeful frown. "I'm here to also keep tabs on young Izuku here. One of his Quirks was listed to be a potential, permanent biological enhancer that could be given to both people with Quirks and the Quirkless. With the Legion of Tomorrow trying to expand here, it's best if they do not get their hands on Izuku."

Miss Hikiru's arms tightened around the boy in question, filling an unknown warmth that Izuku didn't know he needed. He leaned into the action, barely hearing the heated words the woman spat. "And is that something a boy his age should hear? He has enough on his mind to start to worry about kidnapping for god's sake!"

Izuku flinched at the shrill screech she gave off, finding the American hero's eyes locking with his. They didn't seem to guess if he was ready, nor did they seem to pause to reconsider their words. Slipstream just knew. Knew that sometimes sugarcoating things did more harm than good.

That was all Izuku needed to know before he opened his mouth. "I- it's fine. M- more importantly, what's this a- about my r- records?"

"Your police records." Slipstream said, not even faltering for a second. "They documented everything about your Quirks, and have given several more on potential counters." He paused, face falling into contemplation. "On the topic, have you given thought to your future?"

"T- the topic? Y- you mean my Q- Quirks?"

The hero hummed, a strained smile coming over his features one moment before disappearing in a display of professionalism. "Indeed, a man I looked up to once told me that I had my Quirk for a reason, and that to squander it would be a crime in and of itself. It's a sort of… motto for me as a hero: if I had the power to change the outcome of an event, why would I hide away. Why would I fail someone who could have been saved had I been there."

Izuku's breathing increased the more he heard. Everything the American hero said struck a chord in his heart strong enough to dislodge his determination to keep his Quirks away. Voices began trickling into his ears, screaming at him, laughing at him, jeering at whatever they could find.

Yet, no matter what they said, Izuku was paying attention to one thought going through his mind. Something that took up more of him than drowning out the tide of chaos of the villains in his head.

Izuku was guilty.

An incomprehensible guilt that seeped down his throat and choked a whine from it. It was stupid, some part of Izuku knew. However, how could he simply stand here and let people suffer while he had the abilities to change something, anything.

"And you do, Izuku. The toll is not so steep considering all the good you can do. All the lives you can save just by snipping one." Honey dripped into his ear, coaxing him.

For a damning second, Izuku faltered. He remembered there was a series of kidnappings happening in Mustafu quite close to where he lived. Perhaps, if he masqueraded as a child without aide, they'd come after him.

"No one would miss them," a voice chimed, almost in unison with Izuku's thoughts. Izuku could finally get rid of some of this guilt piling up on his shoulders, and save some people in the process. He would be a hero.

"N- no…" Izuku mumbled to himself. He felt it deep in his bones. These thoughts were not his, these answers were not his, and the voices in his head were all still there. "I- I can't be a h- hero."

Control slammed back into him in a trembling fit. The nine Quirks were hurled back into the corners of his mind, and Izuku shivered at how close he became. How simple words affected him so much.

His eyes darted around, swirling in his skull as he found himself in a chair while Miss Hikiru was yelling at Slipstream across the room.

The aero-kinetic hero looked apologetic, turning a slight frown Izuku's way. "I see you're back. My words were misspoken, young Izuku. Your seemingly innocuous coherency had given me a false sense of misplaced guidance. Perhaps when your control of your… emotional state increases, there will be a chance in the future to continue this conversation."

"Y- yeah," Izuku lied. His eyes failing to the floor, hoping his hero would leave soon. "M- maybe."

"I would hope so. Your Quirks are powerful, and would be a great boon to society. You simply keeping them to yourself would be selfish-"

"That's it!" Miss Hikiru pushed Slipstream, her hands failing to find purchase on his body despite clearly pushing against the man's sculpted figure, but containing enough force to shove him out the open door. Izuku's therapist flailed a bit at not grabbing hold of the hero, but caught herself long enough to shut the door in the man's face. "That's enough of that asshole!"

Izuku blinked at her, and she looked up just in time to see large, green eyes staring right back. Her hands zipped up to her mouth, clasping audibly.

"You didn't hear that, Izuku!"

"I- it's fine…" Izuku blushed, rosy warmth lighting up his cheeks. "I- I already know m- more."

Miss Hikiru looked aghast, sitting across from Izuku before frowning. "You better not be using that language, young man. I know All Might can't be here more than a couple minutes every week, but he can certainly reprimand you if you're using those words to be mean."

"I- I'm not! I swear!"

"I know," she hummed, reaching into her pocket to pull out her phone. A few seconds of tapping rang in Izuku's ears before she looked back to him. "Now, are you going to tell me about your interacting with your Quirk without supervision… again."

Izuku shriveled into himself. "I- I thought I could do it this time… a- and the first time d- didn't go too bad."

"Izuku, the first time we found you in a dark room with only your laptop screen as light all because you just listened to one of these… apparitions!" Miss Hikiru huffed, sending a brief glance to Inko Midoriya still dwelling in dreams. "They're just manifestations of your guilt trying to drag you down. It's your Quirk, Izuku, these people aren't real."

"W- what if they are." Izuku shuddered, remembering everything they ever said. After thinking about it. Forcing himself to recall all the little details, all of it seemed too real to just throw aside it as some misplaced schizophrenia. "T- their personalities are too d- developed for me to come up with. A- and I'm too c- conscious of them as w- well, and-"

A sigh broke him from his mumbles. "Izuku, I think, as your therapist, I have a better grasp on the matter."

Izuku wanted to scream at the self assured face of Miss Hikiru in front of him. Crush or not, Izuku didn't want to tell her that she wasn't really good at her job. That all she had done was probably look up what a therapist might have been.

However, the young boy held his tongue. She was a person who had stayed with him for months while others left in days. The crush he had on her just warmed those feelings of comfort.

In the end, that feeling was something he was severely starved of.

"Are you still thinking on that a- on Slipstream's words?"

Izuku nodded just for the change of subject, letting Miss Hikiru speak again. "Don't worry about him. American heroes all tend to hide their identity in some way, shape, or form; it tends to make them put on another mask that is more than physical. Besides, the Longbow Heroics Laws only state he can assist in villains arrest while cutting through customs, not messing with kids."

"O- oh, but his words w- were right… i- in some places."

"Izuku…" she sighed, reaching over to brush some of Izuku's green hair away from his face. "Don't let his words get to you. You're a wonderful kid, and I only hope that you can get over your guilt." Her features glitched for a moment, appearing to frown and smile at the same time. "I just know that whatever you set your mind to, you'll excel at. Just… take more care of yourself. You're only a kid."

The holder of the Nine looked down, a smile breaching his face once more. "O- okay…"

"Good!" Miss Hikiru smiled, her cheeks dimpling as she patted Izuku on his shoulders. "Now, how about we go get your mother a present for when you finally wake her up?"

Izuku nodded, childish innocence finally giving way as his hand slipped into his therapist's one. She was bad at her job, and sometimes forgot about him like All Might. However, whenever he was with her, Izuku felt like she always knew how to react. A perfect smile to light up any worries he had at the time.

And that was what mattered to the young boy. A sense of safety, and a place away from the prison that was his own body. The prisoners always knew what to say or do to keep him from smiling.

Yet, the smile of Izuku Midoriya never left that day.

* * *

_So, I didn't know if I wanted to end this on a good note or a bad note, but I decided that Izuku needed something happy for once. He's finally getting a handle on his abilities without jack's help; something that might hurt in the long run, but works well for a short term use of power. With that being said, a little glimpse at Ned/Crawler's new 'Quirk'. it was mainly because I don't want Izuku looking more like a monster every time he used it. A little playing it safe, but honestly, he has enough on his plate. _

_(For those of you who want to know(also, say if you want the reworked powers displayed whenever they show up))_

_Ned/Crawler - Preemptive Adaptation suit w/varying rates of Regeneration (Think Lung if he had the ability to rework his entire body to fit to whatever enemy he needed to fight)_

_Now, this chapter was mainly to introduce how I believe international laws could be handled in regards to heroes and villains with the introduction of the Longbow Heroics Laws(which will be expanded upon later, but you can parse together enough to get the gist.) Basically saying the heroes that are capable of and actually do crossing continental border get a freebee in regards to customs as well as flight checks. This is also to introduce the assh- I mean, hero, Slipstream, who will become more relevant soon. PLOT! PLOT INCOMING!_

_In regards to questions, the reason why I put Jack saying Izuku needed to kill someone was because Izuku gains access to Jack's power every time they talk. Being a master manipulator is one thing, but if Izuku knows what's coming, it make's Jack's job harder. Jack considers this as more of a game where he's waiting to see if Izuku would stick to his ideals or kill and fall. And as for Izuku not getting help, the boy's ten, he's intelligent, but he's also dealing with quite a bit of guilt in regards to All Might and his therapist, as revealed here, is not really good at her job (honestly, I'm wondering why she still has it...)._

_As for the chapter itself, I'll be coming back to edit it as time goes on, so if y'all see something wrong please tell me. I'll hopefully fix it right away. _

_Next chapter: Izuku fixes some of his problems, and finds himself new ones. _

_As always, Enjoy!_


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **I do not own My Hero Academia, nor Worm. Those belong to Kohei Hirokoshi and Wildbow respectively.

* * *

Medic(4)

Izuku's hands felt wet. The scent of copper coated his nostrils, and he couldn't quite drown out the gagging of his surroundings. Not his own, though. Something mundane like surgery was not even a blip on Izuku's radar anymore.

It was… therapeutic, in a way. Time seemed to stretch on for ages as he cannibalized several phones, electrocardiograms, and a couple syringes laying around in an effort to help his mother.

"Ooh, the neural networks in her arms are a bit weird! Is this connected to her Quirk? Hmm, Izu-izu! Get some grey matter on the way out would you?!" A cheerful madness creeped along his thoughts, chasing away some of the ideas for a spinal brace he had been considering.

Perhaps that reminder was a good thing. Riley's Quirk was one that didn't really seem to have an upper limit on how crazy it could get; all that came to mind were more plans, and more chaos.

Izuku found himself slightly engrossed in the feelings of improving his mother. He had already rewired her endocrine system to process a higher hormone threshold, and to not constantly put her on a rage induced rampage everytime she woke up. A couple moments after, he'd been focusing on maybe giving her another liver to process different types of poisons and venoms. It was only the timely gagging of a nearby police officer that the boy remembered he was elbow deep in his mother's abdominal cavity.

Along with that realization, though, was guilt and fear. He had done it again. The feelings of the personality attached to the Quirk always bled through when he had them this close.

Sometimes that meant he had trouble wondering where his elation ended and theirs began. It was a rather intuitive spot Izuku tried to understand, but actually separating himself was easier said than done.

And that was the problem. In the thick of it, Izuku didn't really think that there was a difference. Their Quirks had a sort of addiction to them; a feeling that they can still improve even beyond what was already there. An urge to use them in the way they were meant to be.

It was rather unfair in the boy's opinion. All he wanted to do was control his Quirk, but now he had to deal with both the picky personalities and addictive abilities instead of something simple. Still, control was still there despite these factors. Izuku's path was slow, but he had a path.

In fact, Riley had been semi-compliant. He'd found that she, like Jack, had things that would sway her to allow him access to her Quirk. It was in the brief moments where she wasn't asking him to dissect multiple people in the room that Izuku considered her a lesser insanity than Jack.

It meant that she was the most childish of the nine. Both her speech and apparent actions had made that clear to Izuku, and the young boy found it easier to relate things to her.

Riley would jump to and fro from one topic to another, rewriting and obscuring formulas and augments as they worked. Izuku found it particularly useful to try focusing on his mother's Quirk while trying to circumvent the problem with her vulnerable lymph nodes.

With her partially distracted, Izuku had free reign on the Quirk. Allowing himself to drink in the full knowledge of what it entailed. Though, it was par of course that he didn't gain everything at once.

And it also didn't help the process of the operation too much, either. Sure, Izuku could let the Quirk direct him partially, and he did on the parts that seemed to be the hardest, but he wanted to be sure his mother was one hundred percent.

He even listened as Riley pitched in her ideas and advice every now and again. However, he made sure to triple check it twice; she had tried slipping in two flesh-eating pathogens that practically thrived on everything but lava and radiation. Still, some advice was good enough to be vetted by the Quirk as viable to not be a highly contagious disease.

It was an hour of constant work that tapered off as Riley quickly found herself bored of Izuku's focus, and he had already looked for a brain parasite twice. The green-haired boy wasn't quite sure that those were, but he didn't like the sound of them. However, when Riley finally began to struggle against her bonds, Izuku let her burst free.

The Quirk of mesh and giggling flesh tore away with startled speed, slowing to a halt a little ways away as if to ask 'is that it?' And Izuku would only push it away with vindication, a smile so bright burning into his face in its confusion.

All because his mother lay before him. The various surgical wounds had been sealed back up with a biological glue proxy, and barely a scar would even show of it ever happening.

A breath he had been holding left his lips, chest heaving as if a weight he hadn't known was suddenly gone. And maybe it was. Because as the young boy watched his mother's chest rise and fall like it should, listen to the correct beeps from the machines nearby, and ignore the gagging of the officers in the corners, he finally felt the guilt ebb away.

Not all of it. His guilt was one of many facets, but a large, stagnant chuck had been ripped off. And within he found something that had been intrinsic to him since the beginning: hope. A small, budding optimism that dug into Izuku the second he felt it.

Then he choked on it. Emotions he had long since repressed to hide himself from the pain came through as his vision blurred. Warmth reached his cheeks as his eyelids became heavy, and the liquid load they bared trailed over his rosy cheeks.

He turned to where he knew Miss Hikiru would be, her form blurred but he knew. His body rushed hers as, and his tearstained face rubbed into her clothes. She just softly traced circles on his back.

Izuku knew he was an ugle crier. However, this was one time let in. He had done it. Healed his mother to fix the mistake that never should have happened.

It was a spark of opportunity that led his mind to wander. His childish exuberance finally breaking through the glum barriers that were once there to hold him back. He had done what doctors around him said impossible, and now what was to stop him from demolishing the rest of his guilt?

What was to stop him from-

"I- I did it!" He cheered and sobbed, snot and tears dripping onto Miss Hikiru's shirt as she continued to soothe his excitement.

A hum brought his head up to see the blurry approximation of one of the prime factors in his growth. "Congratulations Izuku. You actually did it."

"I- I can-"

"Oh, hush now. I can barely understand you with all that slobber." Miss Hikiru chided. "Though, I think you forgot one important detail, young man."

Izuku, in all his emotions, was too caught up in the moment to actually pay any attention. He tried to blubber out a question, stalling long enough in his happy heaves to actually express his confusion.

"It's your birthday! How can you forget it?"

Izuku finally blinked back a couple tears to see. "Bwuh?"

The woman above him giggled. "Just turn around and close your eyes. I have a present for you, and you can show your mother when you get it."

If he wasn't happy now, Izuku would have been bursting with joy now. Perhaps not as much, but the notion still held that today couldn't possibly get better for him.

The young boy did as he was told, listening in as he heard the door to the room close on a series of exiting footsteps. He paused, wondering what exactly was happening before a sharp pain bit him in the neck. A hypodermic needle, one part of his mind supplied.

His blurry eyes shot open in a panic, finding an arm obscuring most of his vision. Flailing on instinct, Izuku tried to get a grip on his attacker, tried to pull on one of his Quirks, but everything felt off. His limbs were heavy and slow. The strength he exerted on his Quirks was almost futile, and he was greeted by screaming as they all rushed him again.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, Izuku found a trace of whoever was attacking him, and the boy promptly froze. Whatever was running through his system bored through his mind as the last thing he saw was Miss Hikiru.

Her face was flickering between a smile and a grin. Two expressions he had never thought would differ so much, but where the once warm, happy smile that Izuku had grown accustomed to there was also a disgusting grin that matched only the vilest of villains.

And darkness never hit him so hard.

* * *

There was something to be said about dark and damp places. They put a stress on the mind to fill in what was missing, and they constantly played with the discomforts of common, urban humans.

Izuku quickly found that he dislike either adjectives when concerning his bonds. Cold too, as the bite from the metal pole he was tied to was something that he wholly disliked. They were things that could drive any normal man to the edges of his psyche.

Or they would have if Izuku was anything but normal. Sanity was debatable, but the young boy had more pressing matters on his mind as he woke in a completely different room than he last remembered being in.

He didn't like how the ropes forced him closer to the cold metal pole, nor did he enjoy how they chafed against his skin, pulling and rubbing whatever was exposed into a raw red. The groaning, sniffing, and soft cries he heard around him scared him a little bit. There was also the fact that his head was covered by some thick, stuffy bag that scratched against his face like a patch of sandpaper.

However, he quickly got used to everything. Despite what normal eleven year olds might have been feeling, Izuku only felt calm and confused. He had been afraid of very little since he had his nine problems, so the only thing that took his mind was one question.

Why?

It repeated in an endless loop that battered at the back of his mind. A constant barking that gnawed his higher thoughts, and eroded most of his control. Yet, when the voices in the back of his mind revealed themselves, Izuku just sat there. Cold, wet, and wholly in the dark.

Izuku knew there were others around him quickly. Probably in the same situation as him as he heard their rapid breaths and some of them began to cry out for their moms and dads.

Perhaps Izuku might have called out for his parents or heroes once. All he could do was ask himself the same question that had cornered him into his predicament in the first place.

Maybe she had been pressured into doing it? Maybe there was some other factor involved. Maybe everything was an act from the start? Maybe. Maybe. Maybe.

He was denying things now. Izuku tried to pull himself out of the hole he was dragging his thoughts towards, but every chance he got just spiraled him further into the back of his head. It was a futile effort, he knew. However, he wanted some comfort to heal the sudden vacuum in his heart.

Or maybe, Izuku wanted to get that horrible grin out of his mind.

That mattered little to whoever had captured him, though. Light began to filter in through the cracks of Izuku's headwear, and the boy flinched as the sound of heavy boots on concrete echoed in between the strangled sobs around him. The matter of his betrayal was suddenly pushed to the back of his mind as the blinds he wore were gently tugged off his face.

Izuku had to blink back his tears as the floodlights above him stabbed into his eyes. Clarity came soon and a couple blinks let him see that he was in some cramped room with metal walls. Tiny windows were several meters off the cold, concrete ground, and there were several metal poles erected up to the ceiling with more people tied to them.

A shiver passed the young boy as he counted seven more children other than himself and the two tied up to his pole. Twenty more adults were bound as well, and there seemed to be men and women with weapons standing around the edges of the room.

Izuku turned to the two next to him. One of them was a boy with messy, purple locks, deep bags under each wide eye. Tear streaks traveled down each of his indigo eyes, but a gag stopped any noise from coming out of his mouth. The other was a girl around his age, dirty blonde hair and yellow eyes glanced at him for a second before she turned back to the front.

Following her line of sight, Izuku found a fairly thin man sitting in a rolling chair, a hemp bag hanging from one hand. His features weren't anything to write home about; only a pair of bright, hazel eyes stared back over a well trimmed goatee and well-maintained, brown hair.

The man sat with his legs crossed, a snakeskin boot tracing circles in the air. A pair of white gloves were clasped in front of him as he stared into Izuku's green eyes. His suit was a pristine as his smile.

"Hello, Mister Midoriya, its wonderful to finally meet you." The man said. "I apologize for the rough handling that you endure, but I just couldn't be sure how... sane you were under the influence of your Quirks. We can accommodate you should you wish it, though. Oh, but where are my manners," he bowed, eyes never leaving Izuku's. "My name is Cale Clemmons; friends and associates call me CC."

Izuku pushed slightly against his bounds, finding that he had different ones from the two next to him. Whereas they were bound by a kind of brown cement, he only had normal rope.

The situation was catching up to him, though. Cale was genial, but Izuku could see that taking a change. He wasn't so innocent to believe that the man was anything but a villain with all these tied up people nearby.

His voice came out scratchy and raw. "W- where are we?"

Cale blinked, as if not expecting that. "Still in Musutafu," he answered easily, propping one hand so that could tap against his lips. "You're taking this kidnapping rather well. I hadn't expected to reach you this way, but an… associate of mine jumped the gun a little bit. It's a welcome change to have someone not break out in tears the second I talk. Aren't you even a bit scared?"

"N- no," Izuku stuttered, trying to ignore the two staring at him from either side. "I- I'm scared of o- other things. B- but, w- what are we doing here?"

"Rushing right to the problem are we?" Cale laughed, kicking himself from the chair. The rolling wheels squealed a bit before a large, shirtless man stopped it. His exposed skin seemed to be drooping a bit, brown and grey sloughing off onto the floor before solidifying on contact.

Cale walked to the center of the room where everyone could see him. "Tell me, Mister Midoriya, do you feel like you fit in with everyone else? Everyone looks at you, but they only see your Quirk. They only see a potential villain no matter what you do," the purple-haired boy next to Izuku twitched. "Or they only see the mask you try to place on. You feel like you must become another person to deceive your family and friends into believing someone you're not."

Izuku saw the ashy blonde girl frown as Cale continued to speak, and everyone in the room was now trained on him as he continued. "They label you a villain or villain-to-be, and they start profiling your Quirks to try and counter it should the need arise. Don't you think your Quirks would be better used if you lived in a society that treated you better? It's similar for Quirkless, in a way. They are shunned by this… hero-loving time, and, even if they have traits and abilities beyond Quirks that can contribute to a better tomorrow, they are cast aside by people who only look at a person's Quirk."

"I should know, too," Cale said, smile suddenly turning solemn. "I am one of those Quirkless that was cast aside by society. Many people who work for me have experienced it as well, but we need not to shun the Quirkless just as we need not those with Quirks like yours."

He nodded to the boy next to Izuku, "Hitoshi Shinso, your Quirk can save many people, and yet they label you as a villain when you want to be so much more."

His attention shifted to the girl next. "Himiko Toga, you hide behind a mask so that those around you don't worry about your Quirk turning you into a villain. Isn't it so tiresome to deal with? Don't you just wish they'd understand you?"

"And you, Izuku Midoriya," Izuku met the man's eyes, and all he found was feverish self-assurance. Like every word that dripped from his mouth was the one that they wanted to hear so bad. It was easy to find when Izuku had to deal with a much better one inside his head. "Your Quirks are something that could help everyone; even Quirkless like myself can benefit in one way or another. However, what have they done to help you? Constantly failing to help your mother so that you had to force yourself to save her? They rather have police watch you day and night like you are a monster on a leash instead of spending time looking for help for her. How about support itself? Did they do anything to help you with your problems when they began to outweigh your proposed worth?"

Izuku winced at the words. They struck chords too close to his guilt, and they made him think that his fault never played in his struggles. However, they were the ones that he sorely needed.

A hand grabbed his head and turned him to face Cale. The geniality had left. "The answer was that they threw you aside, and began to get ready for you. Even your hero, All Might, was getting ready to turn on you when you eventually lost yourself." He smiled again, a brave, wonderful smile as he moved to a safer distance from Izuku. "However, I believe in you. I believe that you can accomplish your dreams, and achieve what you want. You too, Mister Shinso. And you, Missus Toga. You all can do what you want, and be anything you desire. All you have to do is follow me."

There was a sort of fire that shot amongst the group around them. Izuku saw it as it spread. A maniacal fervor that infected the brains for those around them. It wasn't any brainwashing like the boy first assumed, but the emotion put into Cale's words could have fooled anyone on that front.

Izuku himself had trouble doubting the man had anything less than some form of mind control or something that let him understand people better. Though, it was a series of words that struck out to the young boy. The man believed in him.

A simple phrase that had only been uttered by a select few. However, they way that the man said also struck Izuku. Had the young boy been in any other position than tied up, he might have caved into the man's words.

Presentation was half the battle, and to Izuku, a boy who had to deal with the presentation of monsters in his head on a daily basis, Cale had utterly failed. The man was a villain. He was someone evil to Izuku, and that meant he was opposed to the young boy no matter what he did or what flowery words he embellished.

But, for everyone he attracted with his words, Izuku found there were others who didn't want any part. Izuku could see it in the eyes of some; a fear of uncertainty that wondered what would happen if they refused here.

"I- if I join you," Izuku made his choice slowly, and wondered if his mother would wake soon. He dearly wished she wouldn't be too mad at him. "W- would you let those that want to leave, go?"

Cale blinked again, stumped with a frozen smile on his face. It looked too strained. Too forced. "Of course I will. I'm not some monster who would ship them off if they refuse me. Everyone has a choice to strive for a better tomorrow."

"He's lying." The girl, Himiko, whispered.

However, it wasn't low enough as suddenly there was a glob of brown and grey fluid that covered her mouth, and she struggled a bit as it hardened around her face, closing her lips. Izuku's head snapped over to the large, shirtless man who was looking over with one of his arms pointing in their direction. His eyes then wandered back to a scowling Cale.

"Don't listen to her, Mister Midoriya, she's a habitual liar." Cale said, a hand pressing into his front, jacket pocket to pull out an inhaler. He pressed a few puffs into his mouth before his smile was back. "Did you know that she lies to her family and friends. She puts on a mask of a kind and proper girl when she really is a sadistic little psycho who is in love with blood. Don't worry, as long as you join me, everyone will be put back where they belong."

Izuku paused for a bit, his eyes tracing over Himiko and the hardened material around her mouth. She seemed to be able to still breathe, but he didn't want to take chances. The fact that her yellow eyes were now squinting at Izuku told him more than he wanted.

He turned back to Cale slowly, trying to appear compliant. "H- how do you know all that?"

"You mean the information? Isn't it obvious? I read it all in the police documents on you all." Cale said, a frown taking over his face as he looked over Himiko's covered mouth. He turned over to the shirtless man, "Hey Bayou Bill, or whatever your name is, why'd you cover her mouth? What if it suffocated her?"

"Ah, Ah'm sorry boss," the large man stuttered, his gravelly voice low. "Ah just didn' like how she spoke about ya. Ah didn' mean ta."

Cale sighed, walking over to pat him on the shoulder. "It's okay, we all make mistakes. I like how you're stepping up for me; really warms my heart. Say, what was your name again, though? I forgot."

"Ah'm Randal, boss!"

"Randal then," Cale smiled. "You're doing a wonderful job." He turned back to Izuku, "So, when did you want to start?"

"S- start?" Izuku stuttered. "W- what do you mean? I- I haven't d- decided."

Cale was frowning again, his head snapping to Himiko for a second. "Aren't you being selfish? Don't you think you can accomplish so much more without having to worry about the police breathing down your neck every second? You can't really be thinking about going back there and being welcomed in open arms?"

"N- no, b- but shouldn't I at least go back? T- they're probably w- worried."

"They probably are," Cale agreed, slowly walking back to Izuku. He reached into his jacket only to pull out a sleek, black pistol. "So, you should probably make your decision soon. You're not part of Tomorrow yet, but I can make an exception for you. Her, on the other hand," Cale shifted his pistol's barrel over to Himiko's outstretched leg.

The bang dragged over her muffled scream, and suddenly the room was filled with cries and struggling. There was a sudden hole in Himiko's leg, her body writhing against her restraints. Hitoshi was glaring over at Cale, muffled words and curses trying desperately to get through. Izuku just stared at the spreading red.

And Cale's voice rang over all the chaos. It wasn't loud or anything, but Izuku felt like it drowned out everything around them. "There's your time limit. Agree and you can heal her, but remember, little medic, don't try to be a hero." He gestured over to the gunmen around the room. "We're watching you."

Izuku didn't really answer him. All the young boy did was watch as the man walked out of the chaos the room had descended into, and add just another portion of guilt to the pile that had vanished.

Then there was only damning noise in his head. Nine Quirks all vying for his attention.

* * *

_Well, things escalated quickly. I think I foreshadowed Hikiru's betrayal enough in the previous chapter, and now we get to someone who I wanted to contrast Izuku. Cale is someone who I think the original Quirkless Izuku could have turned out to be if he had more ruthlessness and more dedication to a cause. He's a villain who's as OC and I can make it, and I like him a bit(I think that's my bias showing though). _

_Things are finally heating up, too. I might be getting excited as I write through the next series of chapters as cool shit is hopefully abound, so if y'all can catch some of the mistakes I miss, that'd be awesome. Because I feel I'll make mistakes even if I look. _

_Next time: Fixing problems... again_

_As always, Enjoy!_


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **I do not own My Hero Academia, nor Worm. Those belong to Kohei Hirokoshi and Wildbow respectively.

* * *

Medic(5)

Darkness and insanity was crawling along his thoughts. They cloyed at his restraints, and begged to be released. To give their vicious support in the form of murder.

Izuku was tempted to give in. His control was going haywire. There was no way he could concentrate on one thing while the others screamed in his ears.

And maybe... maybe Izuku really just wanted to let go. The voices promised him safety, and he was scared. Scared of everything that was happening. Confused of everything as it happened. All that brought was desperation, and that desperation drove the young boy at the moment.

He was so close to the edge now.

His eyes just dipped low to see the pool of red liquid spreading next to him. It was such a raw scene that shouldn't have affected him. He had seen enough blood, guts, and gore to not let the girl writhing in pain next to him even touch the top ten worst things he has beheld.

And yet, Izuku felt as if the world was crashing down around him. The guilt was clogging his throat again, cutting his reason. Could he fix it? Can he even fix it? Should he even try to?

Those thoughts were a sobering one. Saving everyone was a job for a hero, and Izuku was just a monster in the making. He couldn't be a hero.

However, there was something in him that resisted that notion. He was sinking; darkness digging its claws into him so deep that he almost thought it natural. Despite that though, there was a certain resistance in him that stopped him from fully dragging every Quirk within him and going crazy.

His movements were jerky, unfocused. Everything around him felt like it was going in slow motion as he tried to make sense of why he was giving in. People were crying, calling for help, and whimpering within their bonds. They were asking for a hero who wasn't there to hear them.

Some part of him, hidden deep within, nudged his attention elsewhere. Away from the insanity inside his head. Away from the insanity his surroundings were descending into. Away from the 'if's that froze his actions.

Green eyes were dragged into focus. Slowly, they locked onto the trembling form of the girl beside him. Izuku watched as Himiko's eyes held a light that looked similar to his, and suddenly he felt something click in the back of his head.

Like a light had just shined on something innately ugly, Izuku recoiled in recognition. And with it, he was alone. Alone to realize just what he was about to do.

All because he was afraid. And that fear had been pushed to the back of his thoughts, hiding behind the veneer of the guilt of his actions. It was something that had been stuck with him since he had first gotten his nine new additions, but he was always trying to push away his problems by making other problems his own.

Still, recognition was one thing, fixing his guilt was another thing entirely. Izuku knew he was afraid. He knew that his intrinsic disgust for every personality in his head caused him to be hesitant in using them to help in such a situation. However, that first step was something terrifying to the young boy.

That first step was something that he had to do, though. No matter how much he feared losing himself in the Quirks inside him; to give them the chaos they craved for. Because even if he was afraid, in the brief moment he had looked at her, Himiko was as scared as he was. It was at that moment that Izuku felt that it was no longer whether he could be a hero, should be a hero, or wanted to be a hero, but if he will or will not.

And Izuku willed.

So, when he pulled on Riley's Quirk, Izuku tugged with all the resolution he could muster. He was promising studying Himiko's own Quirk as the strength behind the pull shot the Quirk straight into his embrace.

Izuku was almost shocked with how easy it was to drag the Quirk to him, and his head rocked a bit as he dabbed a tentative finger into the spreading pool of blood next to him after a couple seconds of tense shuffling. Information on how deep the bullet penetrated, how it glanced off her femur, causing more internal bleeding than he first thought, all entered his brain. However, her blood felt... weird.

"Oh, it's a blood based power, Izu-Izu, see if you can take a few veins and arteries from her! Maybe some bone marrow might be better..." Riley called through him, her voice tinged with mad excitement. He guessed it was better than her constantly fighting his control; getting exhausted from overtaxing an uncooperative Quirk would spell disaster for him.

Izuku took her interest in stride. So long as she was distracted, he could spend the rest of the time trying to save Himiko before she bled out.

Still, no matter what he thought of, he kept running back into the problem of how he had no tools, nor was he able to stitch up her wound in his current position. His control over a single Quirk might have been strengthened somehow, but Izuku was leary on his chances of breaking out with one, subduing everyone, and then getting back to stitch up her wound without something going wrong in the process.

All he had on his side was the fact that there was a chance her Quirk could help. Something he was curious about even as he recognized that the blood seemed to have other samples mixed into it like a slurry of multiple bleeding victims. Cale's previous taunts about her being a blood-crazed psycho rang in the back of his head, and an idea sprouted in the back of his thoughts.

He lowered his head, hiding his mouth from view as he kept his voice low. "I- I can s- save you. B- but your Quirk… D- does it copy other's Quirks w- with blood?" Izuku saw Himiko blink at him before her eyes roved over to Randal still glaring at her. "O- oh, j- just w- wiggle your toes if yes."

Izuku waited for a bit as Himiko's shoes didn't budge. A dead end there, and he felt Riley's interest wane as he continued to do nothing. Trying to feel more of her blood, Izuku rubbed a bit in his hand, somehow finding that hers was a bit thicker than normal. Like it was trying to do something.

"She takes in blood. What else could she do? If it doesn't copy Quirks, then why does she have different blood types in her veins? Why would C- Cale say that she hides behind a mask? Could there be something there? Maybe… Though, since some other blood types are in her bloodstream, that doesn't mean that she needs to ingest it. Or maybe she needs to ingest it before it becomes integrated…" Izuku mumbled to himself, addressing her after a bit. "D- do you mimic other people with t- their blood?"

Himiko paused, and Izuku thought he was wrong before her good leg's foot shifted a bit. Not enough to be conspicuous, but it was enough to send the message across. The information was enough to intrigue Riley enough, and he was finally understanding her blood a bit more.

"I- is it c- completely physical?" Izuku asked, his breathing picking up as an idea burned in the back of his head. Her foot shifted again.

Thoughts and suggestions burned in the back of his head. Riley had suggested her fourth superplague before Izuku smiled to himself. "I- I have a plan. C- can you handle blood so long as its in y- your bloodstream?"

The same shift of her foot echoed as Izuku felt blood thunder within his eardrums. Wasting no time he turned to the other one next to him. Hitoshi shifted a bit in his prison, and Izuku found those eyes locked onto his for a second. Whether he had heard Izuku's words or not, the boy was clearly waiting for Izuku to speak.

"I- If I get that g- gag off of you, c- can you keep the two of you s- safe?"

Hitoshi blinked much like Himiko whenever Izuku said something. There was a little distrust there; a confusion that settled as Izuku tried to rush through his words, skipping over most of what he was going to do. However, that trust went both ways. Izuku knew that their Quirks were somehow powerful if Cale's words were to be counted, but he had no idea what exactly they could do.

There was only blind trust and faith in their desires to escape that fueled their agreement.

Considering that Izuku was the only one who could talk, there was quite a bit riding on how things were being carried out. The fact that they were also on a time limit only served to increase the tension. It was do or die, and if things went bad, it would be all Izuku's fault.

Hitoshi nodded after a couple agonizing seconds, eyes darting over to Randal. It was Izuku's turn to look over at the boy with a mixture of confusion and worry.

"Y- you want him?"

Another nod sealed Izuku's questions, and Izuku was half tempted to deny him. Idly, he glanced at the gag in the boy's mouth, noting that the material was rather weak. There wasn't going to be mouth lasers anytime soon, but that meant that the gag was just stopping him from trying to speak. It was a clue to solving how Hitoshi planned to accomplish what he said he would.

In the end, the time crunch won out, and Izuku chose to trust him as well. They didn't have the time to be arguing. Riley's Quirk said that Himiko had only a couple more minutes at the rate her wound progressed without help. To add insult to injury, Izuku was forced to push her Quirk away as she eventually grew bored at his inaction.

A few nudges guided his hand to the Quirk he wanted, and maddening roars shook the young boy to his core. They anticipated his rampage. Violence called to them, whispering its own insane mumbles along Izuku's ears as if they wanted nothing more than to rip everyone to shreds.

Izuku met Ned with face of firm determination. Flesh bubbled up from within him, surrounding him in a facsimile of himself. His eyes saw the guns first, and suddenly his skin rippled for a second. Layered scales began to unravel from his chest while his suit's blood thickened to a semisolid.

His eyes snapped closed before he could see anymore. Muscles continued to bunch up and writhe as the thoughts of all the stronger adults with guns entered his thoughts for a second, and Izuku was forced to bite down on his tongue to numb his thoughts for a second. Copper filled his mouth as his mind became nothing but the screams of Ned.

"Yes! Yes! Fight them! They want to harm you, but they are nothing! Crush them like the bugs they are!" Ned roared, filling Izuku's thoughts with bloodlust for a second.

The boy, however, held on to his sanity. A singular thought of what he had to do challenged Ned's rambunctious calls for blood. He didn't need to be a hero to these people. He didn't have to be a hero to anyone here, but Izuku was done waiting for an answer to appear.

He was afraid. Except he couldn't back down now. That was not who Izuku was. Even when harrassed by the worst of the worst for years on end, Izuku hadn't backed down. Now wasn't any different.

Izuku couldn't see what was going on around him. However, he didn't need to. His ears picked up the cocking of guns, rounds being slowly chambered, and there was some disordered shouting echoing along them.

They saw him. His time was running low, and he needed to act fast now.

In milliseconds, Izuku had braced his pinky against the steel pole behind him. A shaky breath met the lips of the flesh suit around him, and the ropes protested him leaning forwards for only a second before snapping from the strain. Then he slammed his entire weight and strength on the tip of his pinky finger.

The fluid in the flesh suit hardened on impact, trying desperately to disperse the force of the blow. Scales around the finger chipped and broke as a few dribbles of blood leaked through the tiny cracks in his armor.

Pain hit him next. Izuku stifled a cry as tears gathered in his eyes. His actual finger was bent at an angle that didn't look too comfortable while the wound had already sealed in his flesh suit. As if to spite him, the flesh around his fingers was already hardening, knuckles popping out as more bone lattices braced themselves around each one as if they were interlocking armor plates.

Gunshots broke Izuku's trance, startling him into motion. The first shots sparked against his scale defenses, and Izuku thought they would hold until a few bullets tore into the same spot after cracking open some scales. Blood and bone splattered around him.

Izuku blinked and the holes were gone, spiraling flesh sealing the damage that had been done. He had thought that defense would work. His thoughts changed as his flesh suit followed with the increase in danger he perceived from the rifles, scales being replaced by some sort of woven exoskeleton that sloped at hard angles.

The boy had no idea how he looked at that moment. All he saw was a black surface covering his body, and the bullets that hit him before glancing off the angles his armor came up with.

Still, his newfound defense allowed him to take some of the blood he collected from his pinky as well as the couple drops he got from being shot. He stood protectively in front of Himiko and Hitoshi for a second before he shoved the gathered blood on Himiko's open leg wound even as she flinched.

"U- use that!" Izuku yelled over the barks of gunfire. His hand reached back, and he grabbed Hitoshi's gag as he moved. Bullets sparked off of him, biting into the ground around him as they failed to bite into his armor now.

Brown and grey liquid met one of Izuku's hands as he moved, and he found Randal's larger form charging him from across the room. Ned screamed at him to beat him down, and Izuku met the man's charge.

Before they even clashed, the young boy noticed how much smaller he was compared to the older male, so his proxy muscles twitched and trembled, wrapping and twisting over each other as his bones and flesh formed the organic form of hydraulics within each arm and leg. Bones grinded against each other as Izuku's line of sight grew, and his muscles expanded from where they last were to compensate for the larger mass.

By the time Randal already was within reach, the man had finally realized just how tall Izuku had suddenly grown. His eyes widened comically, sweat beaded down his brow, and arms shot up to throw more of his cement onto Izuku.

The liquid splashed onto Izuku, locking up one of his elbows while the other ineffectually hardened on his chest. The man raised another hand, but Izuku was faster.

Izuku's changed hand smashed into the forearm of Randal. There was an echoing crack as the forced turned the man towards a wide-eyed Hitoshi. A black exoskeleton enclosed foot met his back, sending the man sprawling in front of the purple haired boy.

He turned much faster than he expected, the grey floor beneath his feet giving way for a second as he pushed off. Screams met his ears as he bore down on the gunmen that were closest to him.

Bullets ricocheted off his exoskeleton, and only a small crack was to show for their point-blank effort. It was gone long before Izuku's fist began its way towards them.

The image of Randal's shattered arm took place in the millisecond before his knuckles made contact with one of the gunmen's faces. He needed to hold back. Winds whipped the man's face for a second, and the punch that would have pulped his head only broke his nose and sent him flying, skidding for a second as his flight ended before coming to a stop.

Izuku backhanded the next man, keeping the image of holding an egg in his head before each of his punches landed. There was another scream and thud as he dropped.

The last man had the sense to duck and run away, but Izuku had enough muscles to make him a tank of flesh. A hand stopped his escape and the man was used as an improvised projectile to slam into another group of three gunmen that were standing a little ways away.

More and more bullets rained down onto Izuku's form, and the young boy drank in their fear. Feelings of being unstoppable echoed through him.

Until a lucky bullet burst one of his flesh suit's eyes. Pain lanced through his link to it, and another eye already was filling out the lost spot.

His brow grew more pronounced in response to it as Izuku found that his eyes were a weakness; he hadn't perceived that they were in any danger until now. A mesh of organic crystal covered the forming eye as well as his other one. An itch broke the back of his flesh suit's head, and suddenly he could see behind him.

The bullets paused.

"Wha… What the hell?" A whisper entered his ears, and the scent of urine and blood filled his nose. Ned just laughed.

However, with their proclamation, Izuku was able to see how much he was drawing on Ned's excitement and bloodlust. Shame and guilt flooded back through his system, but the young boy held tight to the Quirk. He couldn't stop now.

"Wait!" One of the gunmen yelled, his rifle in the motion of pointing to one of the other hostages. "Don't move, or we-"

Izuku moved. His body was massive compared to his originally skinny and short eleven year-old form, but instead of weighing him down, Izuku shot across the clear room in a blur. Exoskeleton encased hand met gun barrel the second before it released its payload.

The man gulped, and Izuku crushed the gun in his hand. In the panic of having a sudden giant stare them all down, the crowded gunmen opened fire once more. It was a conditioned response at this point, but an ineffectual one nonetheless.

Bullets flew everywhere. Some even scored on their own members, sending them down in cries of pain. Izuku waded against the tide of supersonic metal, punching out to send more of the crazed members to sleep.

The eyes on the back of his head kept the hostages behind him safe as he stepped in front of where the crazed men were shooting. Ned was currently roaring at him to kill them, thrashing about in his head even as Izuku stepped in front of a downed gunman who would have been in the line of fire.

Exhaustion was crawling through his link, and Izuku knew that Ned was only so cooperative because this was the biggest fight Izuku had been in since he first got the Quirk. Luckily, his new strength would be enough to shoulder him through the rest of the fight.

Izuku turned to find the last remaining man trembling with rifle raised in defiance. His eyes narrowed behind their defense, and a sigh graced his lips, sounding low and gravely.

"Surrender." Izuku said. "You al- gah!"

A bullet tore into the back of Izuku's throat, forcing its way through the weakest of his muscle groups as well as finding a lucky path through his latticed bone shell that protected his actual body. Thick blood filled his mouth. Copper covered his smell, and Izuku felt a line of fire on his actual cheek.

Anger scared away reason, and Izuku felt the flesh around his neck bunch up. His muscles lengthened, become more streamlined as more tendons lapped between his shoulder blades. Izuku knew his body wasn't growing any larger, but suddenly his line of sight grew higher and higher.

His neck elongated, turning and rippling as the necessary muscles built up inside him. Fire filled eyes of green spun as Izuku's head twisted on its new prehensile neck to lean away from the ceiling. The last gunman had fallen on his butt long again, tearful eyes not daring to look away from Izuku's adapted form.

"Midoriya, you're a butthead." A voice called out from behind the enraged Izuku, and his neck bent around to the source.

He was too focused on rage and fear to actually understand what he was doing, and the words tumbled from his mouth long before he understood what was going on. "What?!"

Hitoshi sighed, causing Izuku to pause at the sight of the free purple-haired boy. "Calm down, Midoriya. You're fine."

Clarity filled Izuku's mind like a lightning strike. His anger disappeared like it wasn't even there, and he found Ned screaming obscenities along the back of his head. The personality raged, saying something along the lines of 'how dare an insect hurt him' and 'yes, hurt me more'. Izuku felt rather stupid letting the emotions of the personality bleed through to this point.

"And you, idiot with the gun." Hitoshi called from behind Izuku's still form.

"Wha-" the man sputtered, his fear finally being overridden as Izuku had stopped looking at him like a bug about to be squashed. "Wait, you're that kid Ca-"

"Shut up and go tie yourself up with all the others." Hitoshi cut in as the man snapped to attention before doing exactly as he was told. His mouth shut with an audible click, and his feet dragged himself over to the several other delirious gunmen to tie himself in a pretty impressive knot.

Izuku paused, considering the tired looking Hitoshi as he finally pushed away Ned's Quirk. All the adaptations and size melted away, sloughing off of him in large chunks that fizzled out into fine, red mist. Hitoshi watched the scene happen, and just whispered something to himself as Izuku appeared before him, pristine.

"A- are you o- okay?" Izuku stuttered out first.

"We're a-okay!" A voice chirped out from behind Hitoshi, and Izuku looked over to see… himself? No, there was a couple of grey scales coating his mirror's exposed skin, overlapping themselves over and over while corded muscles poked out from their clothes.

Hitoshi sighed. "We're fine. Your… plan worked, and I was able to get the concrete guy to undo his Quirk on us." He looked over to Izuku's scaly doppelganger. "I'm not sure what to think about whatever you did with her, though."

"Oh! It was wonderful! I feel so strong in this, and his blood was just so… wonderful." The scaly Izuku gushed, blushing slightly as he rubbed the scales on his arms. Then, as if realizing they were being stared at, the scaly Izuku clamped his mouth shut, features becoming something between a demure smile and ditzy look. "I- I mean, your assistance in helping me was great. Thank you. Though, if I may ask, do you know any first aid? I don't think you blood healed all the damage; only stopped me from bleeding out."

Hitoshi and Izuku blinked at the changed. The purple-haired boy was the first to scoff. "Yeah, you can't just make us forget those previous remarks. You just look weird now."

"T- Toga?" Izuku tried, remembering the fact that he had indeed given a potential mimic his blood. More specifically, the blood from Ned's adaptation suit Quirk.

Scaly Izuku nodded, wiggling his feet as if to emphasize their identity. The actual Izuku nodded. "I- I know some… J- just give me a few m- moments."

"That's great and all," Hitoshi cut in, hesitating in bringing Izuku's attention to the room. His hand hovered over the green-haired boy's shoulder for a few seconds before patting it to drag their eyes over to the rest of the hostages. "But, what are we going to do with everyone?"

Izuku took one look at the shivering forms of the people tied to the poles. The children and adults all looked over to the three with a form of fear and apprehension. However, Izuku also found that there were people who simply stared, waiting.

And perhaps that was all the prompting he needed. He still felt that he couldn't be a hero, but now, he didn't have the luxury of hesitating on his guilt. Looking back at his actions, Izuku knew he didn't need to be a hero to help others.

That, despite all the fronts they choose to show, everyone has something that needs healing. Some might have external wounds. Others might hide their festering scars beneath layers upon layers of emotion. All they needed was a medic who knew where to start.

Unknowingly, Izuku stepped forwards.

"Hey, so you have a plan?" Hitoshi asked, stepping carefully beside Izuku as if afraid to set off a bomb. "...are you okay? You're not really answering."

Himiko, still wearing scaly Izuku's form, shushed the purple-haired boy. "Hush, I think you're interrupting something. Stop worrying; everything will be alright."

Hitoshi paused, looking over to the groaning members of their kidnappers. His eyes roved over back to Izuku and he shuddered. "You're really not convincing anyone."

* * *

_Well, this was supposed to be posted earlier yesterday, but my computer suddenly lost connection, and then I had to get my car checked. Honestly, it was like the world conspired against me all of a sudden. Now, this chapter was mainly used to highlight Izuku's conflicting thoughts about being a hero. He wants to, but he can't because of everything that happened. _

_All he needed was an inciting incident that forced him to choose. His 'Medic' if you will. His decisions inadvertently gave him more resolution to seep into the powers of the Nine, and only time will tell if he can overcome them. Personally, this is only the first step to his growth. _

_Getting over to Crawler/Ned's power, it's honestly very similar to the original, but hopefully I showed that, despite how OP it is, there is an inherent weakness in it. Something I'm trying to include with all of Izuku's abilities. It's why I didn't want Izuku to have Crawler's adaptations carry over to his original body. I want Izuku to have to rely on the Nine to get things done. Sure, he can use Bonesaw or Mannequin's powers to build himself up, but those can be fudged a bit as Izuku has to use them effectively instead of getting Crawler's adaptations just for using the power. Again, its to force a weakness into his OP powers that can be exploited. _

_Now that that's said and done, what are your thoughts? I'm trying to keep the story as different as possible, so your feedback can be helpful. _

_Next time: Izuku makes friends and enemies_

_As always, Enjoy! _


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: **I do not own My Hero Academia, nor Worm. Those belong to Kohei Hirokoshi and Wildbow respectively.

* * *

Alpha(1)

"You're really good at this." Izuku paused halfway between wrapping torn cloth around Himiko's leg and wondering if he could remove some of the bullet shards. "Do you play with blood a lot?"

The green-haired boy flinched. "P- play isn't what I'd u- use…"

"I- I mean," Himiko stuttered, wincing as Izuku pressed into her open wound, making sure the blood flow was staunched. "You work at a hospital, right?"

"N- not really. I- I just _had_ to l- learn." Izuku said.

Yellow eyes blinked a bit, and Izuku flinched at how closely they were watching him. "Okay." She finally said after a couple seconds. "So… do you normally get kidnapped or something?"

There must've been something on Izuku's expression that answered her question as Himiko quickly continued. "Well, its just you seem kinda calm… Besides, you know, stuttering over your words and whatever, but its like you've done this before."

"I- its not that I have," Izuku started, probing the Quirks at the back of his mind for a second. If anything he felt that they were much worse than being kidnapped. "I g- guess I have other… things on my mind."

"O- oh right. With a Quirk like that, you probably don't worry about anything…" Himiko fiddled with her bandages a bit, staring at the red slowly seeping up. "If you don't mind, though, what is your Quirk? I have never felt something like that."

Flinching, Izuku looked over to the still tied and groaning men that had stood guard. "I- I don't think they really have a name for it, b- but some of the policemen a- around me called it 'the Nine.'"

Technically, they said some other things after that, but Izuku felt that the first part stuck better.

The girl's head tilted to the side, confused. "Police?"

"Hey Midoriya, are you finished yet?" Hitoshi interrupted, standing over a couple still bound captives. Their faces seemed to be flushed as if an argument had broken out. "I might need some help here, and your… Quirk might help speed this up."

"R- right," Izuku looked over Himiko's wound again, finding everything in order.

However, as he looked to the rest of the room's occupants, things couldn't have been more disarrayed. Hitoshi had set out to free the others as Izuku went to close off Himiko's wound, but now there were adults trying to comfort crying children while they themselves had no idea what to do. Some just sat there, silently waiting for something to happen.

Everything had happened too fast. Izuku's rampage certainly didn't buy into anyone's good graces, and the ones who seemed swayed by Cale's words weren't really cooperating either. All of it added into a mess that Hitoshi couldn't quite handle while Izuku dealt with Himiko.

Nevertheless, It was something that the young boy set in motion, and Izuku could never deal with the guilt if he failed. The main problem was that the boy never expected such an outcome when he used Ned's Quirk. Even the small, timid steps he took were causing tremors of fear to resonate with the crowd.

A small statement that shook the boy's resolve. He needed to move, though. This choice was something he felt only he could do.

So even if every flinch from those he was trying to save caused him to hurt more than any bullet wound, Izuku still stood next to Hitoshi. "W- what do you need?"

"Not me," Hitoshi said, frowning over something as he looked at Izuku. "Those that want to leave are saying they should just wait heroes to come, and then there are some claiming you're Quirk makes you some… monster."

"Yeah! That foreigner said he'd let us go so long as that kid went with him! Why did he have to drag us into this mess; he's gonna get us all killed!" One freed man said, his voice muffled by the mask he wore that steamed and hissed as he spoke.

"He wouldn't have let you go anyway, you know." Himiko chimed in, humming. "I know lies better than you, and he probably would have done worse than killing you."

The man's mask hissed as a gout of steam wafted out. "You don't know that! You're just a child."

"A child that your so called savior shot and left to bleed out." Hitoshi cut in, and Izuku noticed how the man instantly clamped his lips shut. The green-haired boy wasn't sure if he used his Quirk, but the effect of Hitoshi's words were palpable.

Seeing the silence he caused, Hitoshi sighed before turning to Izuku. "Well, what are you waiting for? Tell everyone your master plan or what not. Don't waste my work."

"R- right…" he nodded, "O- oh, thank y- you."

The purple-haired boy grunted, moving over to look at Himiko's bandages. "Don't mention it. We're not friends; just stuck in the same situation. This is just… practical."

Izuku flinched, but understood. They might have been kidnapped and thrust into a quick life or death situation, however, that alone did not make them friends. Acquaintances? Yes, perhaps slightly more trusting, but not friends.

Then again, the boy didn't use the Nine's Quirks to make friends. They would probably caused the opposite in most cases, but still, having the words said to him outright wasn't something he liked to hear. It made him doubt again. Nurture a seed of worry that sat in the back of his mind, waiting.

Slowly, he calmed himself, and looked over the small crowd of people. It was the fear and worry that spurred him in the first place, and seeing it again made him reaffirm himself. It was only that the feelings were directed at him this time.

His mouth opened and words tumbled out. "W- well, I don't think our k- kidnapper really made any effort in keeping us here. The guards," Izuku brought everyone's attention to the tied up men. "T- they weren't really that g- geared to stop me- I mean us. I- if we escaped, there w- wasn't enough people to stop us all. A- and he didn't really spend t- too much time or effort in persuading e- everyone, too."

Everyone was looking at him now, truly contemplating the eleven year-old's words. Himiko was smiling over where she now stood, testing her leg as she limped around, and Hitoshi just frowned. A shuddering breath wracked Izuku's body as he thought over his next words and actions. He didn't need these people to rely on him; just to make sure they stayed together long enough for all of them to escape.

"So what you're saying is, that Cale didn't really care what option we picked." Hitoshi spoke up. "All he wanted was to try, and now that that option is gone, he's running damage control."

His words sparked a worried murmur through the crowd as several adults tried to calm the crying children, and Izuku could only add to that with a damning nod. It was something he picked up long ago. That no matter how desperate the situation seemed, the young boy always liked telling the truth. Even if the lie would have been more comforting.

"H- he's probably gathering more people to kill us." Izuku expanded, finally igniting the flame of worry into exploding.

The children fell silent, as if their words were some kind of gun to their heads. Adults raised their voices, finally adding to the sweltering chaos as the words drove their previously calm selves over the brink. Others just remained silent, staring at the boy who shrugged off bullets and manhandled larger men with escalating effort.

"And you're saying this because you're trying to be a hero?" Hitoshi once again cut through the crowd of voices. "I get that you have a strong Quirk, but what about the rest of us who can't take a bullet and laugh?"

Izuku flinched, pulling on another one of the Quirks in his head. The perfect sphere fought his control all the way. It knew exactly what he wanted to use it for, but wanted nothing of it. Perhaps it was the most antagonistic against Izuku's control. Something about it just screamed at him to back away and stop trying to use it. To stop trying to help.

Eventually, Izuku wrangled the Quirk of hate and technology, and, with coarse breath, smiled back at a befuddled Hitoshi. "I- I have a plan for that. J- just can you hand me their equipment?"

Information on all types of systems filled his mind. Most of them so closed off that space travel seemed like just a breeze if they were implemented. However, as they got more and more out of the seemingly innocuous specialization of sustaining life, Izuku noted more of the dangerous things that could be if he so desired.

It was rather new. Watching so deeply into this Quirk was something he hadn't done as long as he had until now as this one seemed to be the hardest to grasp without resorting to using all his strength to even pull it to him. There were so many things that flew by his brain that he wanted to try out, and there was so much anger and rage that the personality attached to said Quirk kept trying to express.

The person behind it didn't speak. All they did was struggle against his control, and express extreme hate for everyone crying and asking for Izuku's help. They were all annoying to it. Annoying enough that murder seemed like such a reasonable thing in it's mind, but the actions Izuku wanted to take was something that made it ring with immense wrath towards the green-haired boy.

All because he wanted to use the Quirk to help other people.

Izuku never really tried to learn the backstory behind each of his Quirks, but he at least put together a little bit of what he could find. Riley seemed to be twisted; holding a facsimile of being a child while the monster underneath lurked. Ned was determined to grow stronger, an oddity that only sprouted for his love for fighting and violence. Jack was… different. Izuku never picked out what the personality wanted, but he could tell that the man was poking around, waiting for his blade of words to finally pierce.

The perfect sphere, or as Jack called, Alan, was just another piece to the puzzle Izuku placed around his mutated Quirk. Perhaps the numerous designs he could place together for keeping people safe was something that caused the personality to go insane when things didn't go as planned, or maybe Alan was just selfish enough to hoard his designs for himself, wanting nothing more than to watch everyone else burn.

In the end, it didn't matter to Izuku. He stripped down the assault rifles that were previously pointed his way, taking the springs and mechanisms out as he ripped open a few ballistic vests that Himiko and a couple adults helped a few of their captives out of. Alan struggled relentlessly, causing a few hiccups in his work, but Izuku wasn't really trying to build a space worthy vehicle. All he needed was enough protection from firearms to get everyone through.

His work was fast. Faster than it should have been for anyone else trying to build suitable body armor in a couple minutes. The Quirk helped smooth over whatever he wanted to do with guiding his movements to a degree, but with Alan's constant struggles, Izuku's work was wrought with several inconsistencies.

Of course, those were only visible to him. Everyone else only comprehended the tens of vests, helmets, and pants that were laid out for them. Inside were a series of ceramics, springs, and metal plates that should work better than the materials should. The specifics were things that the Quirk told him were pretty complicated despite how easy it was to put together, and with his work completed, Izuku didn't really need to hold onto the migraine that was Alan's Quirk.

Exhaustion was begging his limbs to slow down as his breath came in rushed pants. Izuku forced his body over to one of the metal support beams, resting his eyes as he heard the nervous shuffling nearby.

"Um, thank you…"

One eye cracked open to see the figure of a nervous boy. He couldn't have been older than eight, but the equipment Izuku made was fitting over his trembling body like a glove. Nearby, an adult who looked fairly similar to the kid stood protectively behind him, waiting to see if Izuku made any aggressive movements.

An unnecessary thing in Izuku's mind, but the gesture from the boy was enough. He didn't ask for recognition. Though, he found that the feeling wasn't too bad.

"Yeah, but are you sure this will stop a bullet?" Hitoshi said, pulling his gear over him.

Himiko, standing nearby, slapped the boy on his shoulder. "Just be quiet. Izu made this stuff, so it can't be too bad. You're just being rude."

"Rude, yes," Hitoshi frowned, nodding over to the exhausted boy. "However, I don't want to wear something, and get shot while thinking it will protect me. It's a reasonable concern."

"I- Izu?" Said green-haired boy asked first, ignoring Hitoshi for a second.

"Oh, sorry!" Himiko said, flashing a toothy smile. "I just felt that since you helped me and everything we could be friends. And call me Himiko."

As Izuku was trying to comprehend what exactly she was saying, Hitoshi cut in. "That's not how friends are made. If it was, then every person a hero saved would be friends with them."

"You're just mad because you have no friends." Himiko pouted.

"As if I need friends."

"I- it's okay, T- Toga," Izuku quickly spoke up. The situation was a little odd with how antagonistic Hitoshi was to the Izuku, but that was fine. He didn't seem to be causing too many problems. "A- as for the vests. T- they should stop a bullet up to… f- fifty caliber, I think. Regular bullets should be blocked, b- but it might hurt. Like a bad bruise… S- sorry for not making them better. I- I didn't have enough time to use that Q- Quirk to make a- anything good."

"That Quirk?" Hitoshi said, causing Izuku to blink at why he had picked that out of everything he said.

Tentatively, Izuku nodded. "Y- yes, my Quirk is called the Nine b- because I have n- nine different ones…"

"Nine…" Hitoshi repeated, his frown deepening by the second. Under his breath, Izuku noticed that he whispered something to himself just out of the green-haired boy's hearing.

Himiko was the opposite; despite her limp, she bounced over to her new, self proclaimed friend, grabbing his hands. "That's so cool! Are each of them like your first one? Can you show me more? Can you ble-" the girl stopped her sentence as if she remembered something, and quickly schooled her excitement. "I mean, sorry. I got excited."

"I- its fine…" Izuku gave her a nervous smile before quickly adding, "H- Himiko."

Maybe it was because she had lost it for a second, but Izuku felt that when she smiled at him saying her name, he had made the first friend since he got his new Quirks. It was a bittersweet one, though. He already knew her reaction before he told her the truth about the monsters in his head.

It was one he had gotten used to. Still, he preferred to savor the friendship before it inevitably failed.

"Are you guys done?" Hitoshi asked. "Also, since you shared yours, my Quirk is… Brainwashing."

The boy seemed to be waiting for something, eyes closing and features scrunching up as if he was getting ready. Only whatever he was waiting for never came as Himiko patted his shoulder, causing him to jump. "That's a pretty cool Quirk, too."

"W- what?" He stuttered, eyes wide before he shrugged her off. "Shut up… It's not cool at all…"

"Fine, don't accept my compliment, grumpy. As for my Quirk, you can call it Transform." Himiko stood with her hands on her hips as if waiting for the other two to rain praises on her. Izuku gave a few shaky claps, hoping that's what she wanted. Hitoshi was frowning again.

"That's great and all," Hitoshi said, looking over to the doors of the room and the windows around the ceiling. "But let's get a move on. I don't want to be here when our kidnapper comes back with whatever reinforcements he came up with."

"C- can you give me a few more minutes." Izuku asked from his place on the floor.

Hitoshi frowned as he stared at Izuku's rapidly rising and falling chest before heaving a sigh. It was only the tiny whisper that Izuku heard that confused him more. "... at least he has some kind of time limit..."

"Don't worry, Izu! Take all the time you need to rest; you're the best meat shield here."

"Not those exact words…" Hitoshi added, his frown twitching for a second. "But crazy here does have a point."

"I'm not crazy." Himiko said, almost as if it was a reflex.

Hitoshi and Izuku shared a brief look, and for the first time, the two saw completely eye to eye.

"E- excuse me," an adult cut into the trio's conversation, the female's eyes trying not to meet Izuku's. "Could we get going now? We put on the vests and stuff."

"Yeah, give it a minute. He needs to rest a bit." Hitoshi said, pointing over to the sitting Izuku.

The woman flinched as saw Izuku look over. "Couldn't we just leave him here? He didn't look like he needed help the first time, and his Quirk scared a couple of the kids-"

"If you want to leave, then just go. Midoriya helped you all escape, and he's certainly not holding you here." Hitoshi said, his voice dropping a few octaves. "However, I think you shouldn't judge a person by their Quirk."

The exhausted boy looked over to the one who hadn't seemed to warm up to him, and felt a bit of respect building up for the purple-haired boy. With his declaration, Hitoshi had promptly silenced most of those against Izuku. More importantly, there was no one who took his suggestion to leave.

Izuku felt something well up in him. A little pride, and part warmth. He felt needed. As if his presence wasn't some kind of volatile monster for a second.

He wanted to thank Hitoshi, but Himiko beat him to it. "So, you're not quite a grumpy pants, right? Right?"

"You're really annoying," he shot back, carefully looking around the room. "Midoriya is just the safest option right now. I have no idea what everyone else's Quirk is, and they certainly don't want to use it despite the situation being as it is."

"You just wanted friends." Himiko accused, smiling.

Hitoshi scowled. "I told you, I don't need friends."

"Liar, liar! I can't hear you!" The girl laughed, hopping on her good leg as she covered her ears.

"You're being childish." Hitoshi grumbled, but for a second, Izuku found no trace of a frown.

Himiko's laughter was infectious as Izuku joined in with a smile, and the kids around, while not understanding, all started to chuckle along. Even a couple of the adults in the room sported a smile at the scene, finding a small solace from the depressing atmosphere.

Izuku admitted to feeling nervous at the situation, but he hadn't felt there was a time where he had friends to laugh with. Sure, they weren't truly his friends, and he was maybe lying about a few bits of his abilities. However, he supposed he was allowed to laugh here. It was maybe a little too quiet, though.

And that feeling only was proven as a window shattered, glass crying out onto the floor. A bullet collided with Hitoshi, lifting him off his feet and then sending him crashing painfully into the ground.

Screams rang equal as the gunshot finally reached their ears.

* * *

_So, it's been a minute since the last update. More for me to research exactly what Hitoshi and Himiko's Quirks do exactly as well as the Nine's. I can remember things, but I want to be sure on their exacts. I also have been moving back into my dorm, and been getting ready for classes, so... Honestly, I'll probably write more as I'm doing classwork. I considering writing a relaxing past time, after all. Of course, there'll be days when the homework is perhaps too much. _

_As for the interactions in this chapter. I tried to keep it close-ish to how the character would react. Himiko not really going completely off the rails till Stain, but there are hints of her mask crumbling with the intervention of Izuku. Hitoshi was rather odd, and while I want Izuku and them to all be friends, Hitoshi's personality feels more like it should dislike how powerful Izuku's Quirk can be as well as all the applications for hero work. Of course, he has no idea on the drawbacks. _

_Next chapter: Izuku bleeds. _

_As always, Enjoy!_


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: **I do not own My Hero Academia, nor Worm. Those belong to Kohei Hirokoshi and Wildbow respectively.

* * *

Alpha(2)

Izuku's ears were ringing. Screams and charging feet filled the room with unnecessary rancor. Blood thundered his head, pounding relentlessly as if to try and make sense of what was happening.

They all felt so far away. As if there was a film between him and them, and the young boy was stumped at what to do.

Another gunshot broke his delusions. Parts of his mind dedicated to keeping the Nine away were reinforced, holding back the dogs of chaos with fierce determination. Another part was focused on Hitoshi and Himiko.

Was it callous to prioritize them over everyone? Hitoshi would probably say yes, but Izuku did it anyways. The movement was more instinctual than anything.

His eyes shot to Hitoshi first. The purple-haired boy wasn't bleeding, and seemed to be trying to force himself into a sitting position. There was something metallic embedded into his vest, crushing painfully into the boy's lower ribs.

Izuku was by his side in seconds, listening to the purple-haired boy gasping desperately for air. Wide and unfocused eyes glanced off Izuku's form as he dutifully went over his injured semi-maybe-friend.

Another window shattered overhead, and Izuku quickly dragged Hitoshi to a nearby metal support by reflex. A large bullet drilled into their previous position, sending a spray of broken concrete into the air. Once again, the green-haired boy was forced to shield his accomplice with his own body, wincing as some particularly sharp pieces scored into his back.

"Mid...oriya…" Hitoshi groaned from below.

Izuku jumped, turning to came face to face with his fellow escapee's pain-filled face. "A- are you okay? Di- did the vest w- work?"

"Yes…" Hitoshi's eyes crinkled as he shifted the side where a massive bullet had decorated his vest. "That was much more painful than I expected. But more importantly," the boy grumbled, finally catching his breath. "Can you get off of me? It's getting hard to breathe."

An embarrassed squeak echoed from Izuku's mouth as he quickly shifted to sitting beside the panting Hitoshi. The other boy hadn't said anything as a complaint, but Izuku could clearly see how much pain the other was in from how he carefully cradled his side. It was a small notion that went unsaid by either of the two boys.

"So," however, Himiko was not part of their small understanding. She fearlessly poked the hurt boy in the side, smugly grinning at the fact that he winced. "What do you say about Izu's armor protecting you? That's a pretty big bullet. Probably would have painted you across the walls if it didn't protect you."

Another gunshot caused them all to flinch as another massive round pinged off their cover. Hitoshi grumbled something under his breath before his eyes glanced around the room. "Now is not the time, crazy. I'm fairly certain they're targeting Midoriya or I now, and I don't want to have to deal with you." His eyes switched to Izuku. "Are you ready to move? How long can you hold that bulletproof form?"

"I- I could probably use it if w- we fight…" Izuku answered, tentatively prodding the roaring Ned. The man was willing to go out so long as Izuku spilled blood, but his new found control could probably forcefully shoulder the man's requests for a couple minutes if the young boy required. "M- maybe fifteen to thirty min- minutes… If I p- push it."

Hitoshi sighed. "I guess it was too much to ask everything from such a Quirk…"

"Oh! Maybe I can play with some blood?" Himiko chimed in, her smile splitting a little too far to be kind. She caught herself after a second, and the smile trembled a bit as it turned more natural. "Y- you know, because I can help."

Hitoshi was frowning, but considering. "Maybe… It's something to think about." The three paused to listen to an adult scream out as a bullet buried itself into their protective vest. He squirmed a bit to get back behind cover before another bullet glanced off the main doors he had tried to run to. "Whatever it is, we need to hurry up."

"What about blowing through the walls?" Himiko asked.

Izuku shook his head. Alan's Quirk had given him enough knowledge about structures to know several things about where they were, and one happened to include the fact that they were currently in the basement of a three story building. "T- the only exits are those doors." Izuku pointed to the double doors that Cale had previously sauntered out earlier before shakily pointing to the plethora of broken windows arranged around the ceilings. "Or th- those windows. We're mostly un- underground."

"Great…" Hitoshi cursed, sharply inhaling as his grabbed his side. "So we have to go through the building, and who knows how many hiding henchmen, to escape."

"W- we can give To- Himiko my blood, again… but-"

Himiko hopped over to grab Izuku's hands, smiling ever so crookedly. "Don't worry, Izu! I'll beat the bad guys with you!"

"N- no, that's not what…" Izuku shrunk a little, finding it harder to hear everything but his thoughts. "D- do you hear any v- voices whenever you had my b- blood?"

Both Hitoshi and Himiko looked at him oddly, a question on the tip of their tongues. They couldn't ask it there, though. The situation permitted planning and a certain degree of freedom, but they couldn't start unearthing each other's secrets on the spot. All they needed was an answer.

And as Himiko shook her head, Izuku breathed a sigh of relief. While that was only one worry abated, the boy found that maybe there could be more to learn from Himiko's Transformation Quirk. Of course, that could be just Riley whispering in the back of his head to open her up.

Another bullet scored closer to their cover, sparking off the metallic pole before skittering on the concrete. The trio ducked on instinct, and Hitoshi grunted as a hand rose to his side again. "I don't think I'm going to be moving fast with this… Pretty sure something is broken." He looked at the other two for a second and sighed. "Let's see if we can get some of the adults to carry me, though. Are you ready to go?"

Izuku nodded, reaching into himself and pulling on Ned's Quirk. The rambunctious personality kept ranting about breaking people, but Izuku's control was strong enough to push it up to him.

He felt the effects begin to take place as the flesh suit surrounded him again. However, instead of having a woven, black exoskeleton or bone-tipped tentacles, Izuku's form only formed into a better mirror of his own body. A sort of cold dread filled his stomach at the implications.

"That's… different." Hitoshi said, also noting the fact that, while Izuku had looked more muscular, he probably couldn't wade through lead like he had before.

"I- I think I need to see the threat…" Izuku whispered. It was mainly to himself, but Hitoshi and Himiko heard him just fine. "It pr- probably reacts to how I view the th- threats, but since we're h- hiding… it thinks t- there's no threat."

Hitoshi grunted, eying around the corner of their cover only to duck back around as another bullet pinged off the pole. "What a stupid restriction. You need to expose yourself to danger to become bulletproof, but don't know the exact level of threat that you'll be facing." He paused, looking over to the cowering adults and children for a second. "Can you survive that sniper round?"

"I don't know, Izu…" Himiko pitched in. "You're a good meat shield, but those bullets when we were tied up did get through before you built that other defence. What if you can't react fast enough?"

Hitoshi's eyebrow rose up by a fraction, disbelieving. "You're surprisingly thoughtful for being crazy."

"I'm not crazy." Himiko assured. "And besides, I care about my friends. Unlike you being all grouchy, and telling Izu to run out into gunfire."

"We're not friends. And Midoriya can take it; he's the only one who can, at the moment." Hitoshi said, turning to said boy in an effort to prove his point.

However, where he expected to find the support of the green-haired captive, he only found the empty space that once held Izuku. He had heard their interaction, but the actual boy had already rushed out of his spot, running on the stronger muscles his form gave him to tackle a particularly brave adult back behind the cover they left.

In the moment Izuku realized what he had to do to trigger further adaptations, there wasn't much on his mind. He had seen the man already beginning to peak over his safety as Himiko had expressed her worries, but to Izuku, things like getting shot and dying were the last things that caught his fears.

Rescuing everyone there was the goal. Not because he had to save everyone, but because something in him kept pushing him forwards. And as he rushed out of his cover, Izuku had a small epiphany: that his increased control over the Nine was only because he was challenging his ideals against their desires.

That previously he hadn't been as truthful to himself as he liked to think he was.

So, Izuku hadn't even paid much of Himiko and Hitoshi's conversation much attention, either. His body moved on its own, and exposing himself from the cover had already worked to his advantage. The very same exoskeleton began weaving itself over his bulging form as more muscle began to fill in to compensate for the increased weight the shell came with.

The man whimpered against the boy's hardened exoskeleton as a sniper's bullet shattered the shell and drilled through Izuku's pseudo-flesh to dig into his actual arm. A cry of agony was muffled before the blood in his body sloshed, and the bullet inside him puffed out from the wound, swimming in his suit's large veins. Flesh knitted back together, toughened. Bones grinded themselves into perfect angles as they laced perfectly through his musculature. Even the exoskeleton wove itself into a different shape completely.

Izuku himself felt something building up between the exoskeleton and his skin, tubes of skin and bone that were slowly filled with a sort of highly compact fluid. The next bullet that crashed into his form only cracked his outer shell as the bullet rolled pitifully on the floor.

A scream woke Izuku from marveling at how quickly he adapted to the perceived threat. The man he had saved was struggling within the boy's grip, and while Izuku hadn't grown that much, he was still taller than the fairly large adult.

"S- sorry…" Izuku growled from his mutated throat, his voice taking on a threatening rumble.

The man flinched. "N- no, it's my fault. Thank you."

"Izu, are you okay over there?" Himiko's voice yelled over the explosion of another gunshot. The bullet had impressively slammed into the same place the previous bullet had landed, but Izuku knew that even if they did crack his outer protection, it would take plenty more shots to get through to him. "Can we move now?"

Izuku felt Ned beginning to struggle against his restraints, and hurriedly moved his body through the basement to cover the broken windows. A couple more cracks on his armor proved that their opponents were still trying.

"O- okay." Izuku rumbled, feeling a bullet break through only for the wound to seal up long before another shot reached him. His form grew a couple more inches in retaliation as the bullet was sealed inside the wound. "I th- think it's safe. J- just be careful."

Himiko happily hopped from her cover, warily eyeing the windows as if she was ready to dodge a sniper at a moments notice. When she found no sign of people shooting at her, the blonde smiled her way over to Izuku.

Still drenched in adrenaline, Izuku tensed as Himiko walked closer. A sort of unease on the back of his mind warned him as his form's enhanced senses translated information to his mind.

Odd scents had been wandering in his nose for awhile now, a sort of twitch of pepper and gunpowder as well as something that smelt of rust. He had heard something in between the lull of sniper shots, the clamor of heavy boots softly crunching along loose bits of terrain, stalking and almost deathly silent. His body moved, leaving the windows as more bullets pelted fruitlessly against his armor, and he enveloped Himiko into his arms, covering her body.

And just as soon as he wrapped his body around Himiko, the doors to the room burst off their hinges, flying off their supports by breaking open their connecting walls and careening over to their position. One of them clashed against Izuku, hitting him with enough force that he felt the exoskeleton on his arms creak a bit.

In strode several more men in military outfits, but some of them seemed to be a bit different than normal. One didn't wear a helmet to obscure his face, leaving the fact that he had strands of tiny rebar sticking out of his head as well as the steel grey eyes that immediately locked onto Izuku's form.

The man didn't speak as he moved, dashing straight at Izuku despite a support pole standing between them. However, instead of colliding into the solid metal, the pole seemed to warp around his body, stretching in the direction he was running. The ceiling and floor connected to the metal object cracked, suffering for only a couple seconds before they gave way as the support pole melted into the man.

Pieces of flying ceiling and broken concrete peppered Izuku as the man finally slammed into his mass of flesh. Izuku shifted, feet slightly cratering the ground while his exoskeleton cracked.

Pseudo-muscles screamed in protest as fragile inner bones were shattered on impact. Izuku was losing slowly, giving ground to keep Himiko safe underneath him.

While struggling to find a solution, Izuku analyzed everything he could, drinking in all he could find while Ned screamed obscenities behind his ears. Between it all, Izuku never was prepared for the man to suddenly explode.

Long shards of rebar, broken beams and a single metal support pole all came rushing out of the man like a pack of angry dogs. Their sheer weight, speed and proximity meant that Izuku could only watch as his body was impaled several times by large, improvised spears before any adaptations could take place.

His exoskeleton shattered, flesh parted, bones were ground into dust as the boy had to forcibly twist his larger body to stop the projectiles that speared through him from stabbing into Himiko beneath him. Several rusty bars had scored on his actual body, dragging angry red lines across his body before extending through his suit. The pain came in small waves as blood began to pool. Izuku's mind settled on the grey-eyed criminal as some of the pain slowly abated, and with the new knowledge of the threat, his suit changed to surpass them.

Something in his blood changed as the rebar inside him began to hiss, a horrible smelling steam slowly trickling out of each of his new holes. Flesh began to pull itself back together, and the man stared for a second before trying to move again.

However, a large black object pushed past Izuku's protective embrace, rushing forwards before either of them could react and nailing the man hard enough to send him stumbling back. As the grey-eyed man clutched his nose, a stream of silvery red flowing, the figure rose.

Himiko had taken Izuku's blood, and her transformation this time was nothing like it previously was. Her height had risen to where her head trailed just below the ceiling. The new form was topheavy, broad shoulders spread with arms that just barely missed the floor.

The men who had previously been doing something while Izuku was held down by the grey-eyed man had taken her sudden appearance with action instead of panic. Bullets stormed the two of them, but both of their black exoskeletons didn't even register their attacks.

Izuku finally had a good approximation of what he looked like, watching as Himiko turned slightly to flash him a grin with his own face. The exoskeleton was more like someone had taken a giant beatle and made it into a suit of armor, but the edges were more like blades of their own, and the joints seemed to have several overlapping segments such that there was no hint of flesh underneath that pitch black.

Still, the face was perhaps the most inhuman thing about Himiko's new appearance. Part of it was trying to take Izuku's face, but the majority was twisting into a black mask of sharp cheekbones and triangular teeth. A sort of ruby tinted crystal was positioned over each green eye made it look like her eyes were always glowing whenever light hit them.

Izuku counted it as luck that the grey-eyed man was distracted enough by warily watching the two of them to react again. It gave the boy enough time to heal his wounds.

Finally, metal clattered on the floor as the corroded poles and rebar left Izuku's body. He could already feel changes taking place, and twitched as more nerves built into his spine as the whole thing extended out his back, tracing lines on the floor in the form of a massive, sinuous tail. Izuku found that he had to actively hunch his shoulders as well as bends his knees to prevent himself from crashing into his surroundings, but his new tail seemed to even out his balance.

"Flamethrowers, Matchstick and Airlock, get the monster." The grey-eyed man said, his voice somewhere between soft and deep. "I'll get the girl."

With his piece said, the man charged Himiko. Having already seen how strong he was, the girl wearing Izuku's form easily danced out of his straight charge before raising a leg and slamming it into the man's back.

He crashed into one of the basement's walls with a painful sounding thud, air rushing from his lips at the collision. Himiko grinned, but was forced to drop her confidence as several spears of rebar were sent flying out of his body much faster than before.

Panic filled Izuku as he moved to help. The idea of Himiko being impaled repeatedly played in the back of his head as his muscles tensed. New and improved power caused his feet to sink briefly into the ground, and the boy suddenly felt slow. As if an invisible chain tied him down.

Then flickering red and orange filled his vision. Gouts of heats poured over him like some kind of river from hell, and suddenly the boy couldn't breathe. There was only hot, hot air that scorched his lungs with every breath.

It was in between the searing pain that roared in the back of his mind with Ned that the boy saw two men holding flamethrowers in his direction, their nozzles spraying flame as if it was nothing but a water gun. Two men stood between the two, one had the lower half of his face obscured by a dark red scarf while the other was decked out in a puffy full body suit that seemed to be held down by several chains surrounding him.

The scarf wearing criminal's entire upper body was uncovered. A less sane part of his mind connected this new figure with the man named Matchstick that the grey-eyed man had ordered earlier. It fit, though. The man's arms and legs were too thin to really hold much muscle definition, and it was only the several belts around his waist that held his baggy shorts up.

Airlock, he guessed, was the other one. However, beyond the fact that the man seemed to be holding something invisible, and clearly straining against a load, Izuku could only make guesses to what he was doing.

More worryingly though, every time Matchstick ran his hands along his arms there was a spark that came alive into a massive fireball. The very same fireball that kept slamming into Izuku, battering him with heat so intense he thought he would pass out.

Izuku felt his flesh beginning to sizzle. The sheer heat making his exoskeleton glow a malevolent red, and cooking him from the inside out.

However, try as he might, Izuku could barely move a muscle. His body strained against his restraints, concrete below giving way as the boy push more and more strength into his movements. All he could do was struggle and burn.

However, the boy needed to move forwards. The people he was trying to save were crying out, and somewhere in there he heard Hitoshi's voice. Every time the fire died down a bit Izuku could see Himiko still alive, running away from the grey-eyed man with speed that didn't fit the size of her new body.

The small seed of doubt that bit at the back of his mind called to him. Why was he trying so hard to save these people? Why was he holding back when his enemies weren't? He could crush them easily if he gave up trying either.

Ned wasn't making things easier, too. His roars of bloodlust were only stymied by Izuku's shaky ideals, and held in place by sheer force of will. Emotions were bleeding through their close proximity. Flashes of rage and annoyance were hard to deal with as Izuku was trying to manage so many things at once.

It all felt so stifling.

However, Izuku continued to move under the assault of heat, pain and fire. If there was anyone who could consider that the outside conflict was something secondary in his list of priorities, Izuku was probably one of the only ones. And it was that distinction that only strengthened his resolve to act.

There wasn't so much as a twitch of hesitation anymore, and slowly he didn't need to breathe anymore. Oxygen had been burning up around him at a rate that exceeded his mass' necessity, but he had stopped needing the element somewhere between the last two fireballs.

Vents began to form around his lower back, small openings that shunted his inner heat out to the open air. Even the fire that did enter through these vents were quickly put out by some kind of mucus that the things kept producing.

Izuku's steps became more sure with every passing second, and finally his shell lost its once glowing luster. He was just a massive black object wading through the flickering flames. The invisible binds that held him weren't weaker, Izuku had just grown once more.

It was a painfully slow walk. Each step seemed to make the room around him tremble, and Airlock was frantically grabbing and yanking something in front of him like he was pulling on a rope. Whatever it did, Izuku didn't slow.

Somewhere in his movements the flamethrowers and Matchstick had seen the changes taking place, and suddenly their movements become more frantic. Izuku could smell a scent wafting from their general direction, one he knew well but just couldn't place it exactly.

They spoke, voices rushed as something in their ears crackled to life. Izuku marveled at the fact that he could hear that now, but paused long enough to hear Cale's melodious voice echo through their link.

"He really exceeds expectations, huh. What a gift..." It was calm, contrasting greatly at the men Izuku was slowly approaching. "Well, what are you waiting for? Tear it down."

Matchstick didn't even pause to nod, accepting Cale's foreboding words as if they were sacred. He turned to the two men with the flamethrowers as they nodded, leaving him standing before Izuku's much larger form. He didn't spare a second to look at Izuku staring down at him as he yelled out to the grey-eyed man still chasing Himiko. "Wreckage! Plan B!"

The man, Wreckage, didn't even falter in his step as he stopped chasing Himiko and instead planted a foot to change his course directly into the support pole nearby. There was only a few seconds before the pole wasn't there and he was already on his way to the next one.

Izuku finally reached Matchstick and Airlock, and the puffy-suited villain trembled like a leaf in the wind as the three stood there. As if to spite the tense atmosphere, Airlock made another gesture of pulling something, and suddenly Izuku felt all his limbs lock up.

A shared sigh of relief from the two of them clued Izuku in on what exactly was going on. The ceiling above shuddered as Wreckage took out another support beam, and Izuku pushed his entire body against the invisible restraints.

It was like the air itself was bulging slightly with every movement, and Izuku found Airlock clenching his teeth, eyelids shut tight. Veins throbbed on the man's visible skin as Izuku continued to struggle.

Matchstick stepped forwards, grinning like a loon. "You can stop struggling now. Just sit back and watch your work burn."

Sick dread filled Izuku's stomach, and his effort to free himself were renewed. Despite his words though, Matchstick wasn't moving. He just watched Izuku's massive form. The boy's head snapped around to find that the gunmen had stopped shooting, and had pulled out something from their backpacks before rushing over to any nearby pole. Suddenly everything fit into place.

"W- what are you doing! Y- you won't be able to get out before t- the whole building collapses!" Izuku stuttered out, his different voice distorting his usual habits into something terrifying.

Matchstick smiled as if already accepting that. "All for a better Tomorrow. Those who don't work for it are better off dead."

Izuku experienced whiplash at that statement, suddenly feeling that there couldn't be someone that insane outside his head. However, as the boy stared at the man's self-assured grin, he realized that his fears were validated.

"C- can't you see he's crazy!" Izuku turned his attention to Airlock. The man gave off the strongest scent from earlier, and seemed to be focusing more on his Quirk than actually droning out Izuku's words. "Y- you're going to di- die!"

Airlock's scent spiked a bit, but his bonds held. Without a sufficient threat, Izuku was left impotent in his growth. Ned kept poking at him, too; goading the boy in his ineptitude to save his friends.

His eyes shot around the room, finding Himiko and Hitoshi across the room from all the gunmen. They were staring warily at the movements of Wreckage, and had been glancing over at Izuku while managing the other captives. A pit of worry built up as Izuku roared across the room.

"T- they're trying to bring the building down!"

A shot a panic lanced through everyone, and the captives began rushing towards the doors, several tripping and trampling each other on their way over. Hitoshi and Himiko were trying their best to settle them down, but the panicked people were all too engrossed in escape to pay them any mind.

The only silver lining was the fact that the gunmen, Matchstick, Airlock and Wreckage were too focused on their tasks to stop the small stream of people from reaching the doors. It only took Himiko tanking a bullet for Hitoshi for everyone to realize there were still snipers for them to watch out for. Luckily, the bullet skittered across Himiko still wearing Izuku's previous form instead of incapacitating anyone else.

"Midoriya!" Hitoshi yelled, voice clipping as his reached for his side. "We need you over here!"

The ceiling shuddered as another pole was removed from its position of support. Izuku didn't know just how far they would have to go to escape, but Alan's Quirk had made a brief estimate earlier. And they didn't have enough time. "T- there's no time! Th- through the windows!"

Hitoshi nodded, trying his best to direct the people to the windows only to be stopped as a massive ball of fire slammed into the floor between them and their supposed exits. Matchstick smiled at the people, and Wreckage crashed next to the thin man's side, staring down the escapees.

"Don't even think about running away." Matchstick laughed while Wreckage glared at anyone taking a tentative step towards the flames. "Why don't we all wait here, and have a nice chat, yeah?"

Izuku glared over at the silent Airlock, bringing his voice a low, rumbling storm of emotions. "Please. Don't do th- this. They're m- my fri- friends."

Airlock faltered for a second, his control slipping for much less. However, that tiny gap was all Izuku needed; he had been pushing against his bounds since they first came into this stalemate, and just now Izuku found the crack in the cage.

His invisible bounds shattered as the floor gave way to Izuku's strength. Airlock tumbled to the floor, exhausted and wholly spent. Spinning faster than his body should have any right to, Izuku rushed Matchstick and Wreckage.

Matchstick found him first, eyes growing comically larger. "Wait-"

Izuku didn't give him a chance to speak, he charged faster than Matchstick could react, and the man only had time to widen his eyes before Izuku had lifted him up in the air. The man's hands sparked on his arms as suddenly his entire body was aflame in a heat so intense Izuku felt his shell begin to slag where he held him.

However, Izuku didn't need to hold onto the man longer, and slammed him back into the floor before he lost anymore of his hands. The floor shuddered and Izuku felt something give within the man as he crumpled to the floor, still alive but impotent in strength to move a finger.

Wreckage had begun to move, but Izuku reacted faster, his tail lashing out to stop the man from moving any faster. For the first time since their fight began, Izuku saw the man's eyes widen and the Ned was slightly sated when Izuku tackled the man to the ground, pinning the smaller man's body with his massive one. This time when rebar burst forth from his body the spears didn't travel as fast as they once were, and just drew tiny lines one Izuku's black shell.

Everything had happened so fast that Hitoshi and Himiko had just begun to react to Izuku's sudden extremes of violence, and even Himiko back up slightly when Izuku began unconsciously growling at Wreckage, challenging him to do something. The gunmen still in the room were trying their best to be unnoticeable as Hitoshi slowly led the group to the windows.

"Yeah Izu!" Himiko cheered, pumping an equally massive fist into the air. "You crushed them!"

Hitoshi stared at the scene as they passed, staying behind Himiko as they moved by Wreckage. He paused just long enough to frown at how Izuku continued to glare at Wreckage. "Good work. Now, can you go first and take the sniper shots? I have no idea how long Himiko's transformation will last."

"Actually, I can probably go for another hour or so. Izu kind of bled all over me…"

Izuku winced, adjusting his hold in Wreckage. "S- sorry."

"No, no, no!" Himiko interjected, waving her massive hands in front of her inhuman face. "It was no big deal! Honestly. Actually… could we do it again sometime?"

There was a pause. Izuku could have dropped a pen somewhere and everyone would have probably thought it was another gunshot. Somewhere in between it all, Izuku and Hitoshi's eyes met, there was a question on the two of their minds. One that had to be danced around with caution when concerning the ashy blonde of their tentative group.

"Right," Hitoshi drawled, dragging out the word too he felt it was uncomfortably long. "Crazy here will get shot, and Midoriya will guard our backs." He waited for Izuku to nod, taking the time to mutter, "girls…"

"Wait! I don't wanna leave Izu here all alone!" Himiko protested, crossing her arms with a heavy thump.

Hitoshi didn't answer; all he had to do was turn to Izuku, a form of prayer being transmitted between them. Izuku fumbled with his smile. "D- don't worry, we can meet again when all this is over. We're friends, right?"

"Right… we're friends." Himiko whispered, more to herself than anything. "Don't be slow."

Izuku smiled, a shaky, toothy approximation. "I- its okay. I'll be right be- behind you."

The purple-haired boy nodded slightly, pushing Himiko, still wearing Izuku's skin, towards the window first. She tore open a large enough hole to fit her larger body through, and then the adults began to help the children through first. The cracks of gunfire popping every now and then only for Himiko to be always in the way of whatever they were firing. Slowly, every single captive had left the building with the exception of Izuku.

Izuku breathed slightly as the ceiling seemed to be holding. Even the gunmen seemed to be dawdling around as if whatever they were placing seemed to be the last thing on their minds. The people they had abducted had escaped, and they spent their time tending to the tied up men that Izuku had beaten earlier.

At some point, Airlock was helped up by a couple men, and Izuku tensed, getting ready for the man to act. However, the criminal just looked over to Matchstick, firmly planted within the concrete, and promptly stopped paying attention to Izuku.

Beneath Izuku, Wreckage gave a small chuckle. It was darker than the boy felt a laugh should be. "Those traitors."

Izuku flinched at the vehemence the man said those words with. "W- what do you mean? Why are y- you even doing all th- this?"

Wreckage stared back, his mouth twitching slighting into what could have been a frown. "The same reason why you save those worthless people. They squander the gifts given to them by birth when they could be doing so much more; they should be held more accountable for their selfish actions."

"Sel- selfish?" Izuku repeated, bewildered. Out of everything he expected as a reason, Izuku wasn't ready for that. "A- aren't you the one being selfish? Y- you can't force people like this."

"Its better we force them here." Wreckage assured, "they chose to sit on the accomplishments of people before them, not even seeing the suffering around them. They have all that power, and look, they didn't even help you. So much would change if they didn't hide."

"An- and what would change if th- they did? You are all j- just criminals."

Wreckage shrugged underneath Izuku's grip. "You have no idea of the real world. Of how many people lose their lives to their stupid society of heroes and villains. They are ruining everything we humans have built up, and no one seems to notice."

"W- what do you-"

Izuku was cut off as the man once again burst apart when a wall of rebar and metal objects came spewing out of his body. The projectiles were slow, barely a tenth of what he had previously showed, but the distraction was enough for the man to escape Izuku's grasp.

Wreckage had gotten his hands on a gunman in the time it took Izuku to find him again, and the man struggled fruitlessly against the grey-eyed man as Wreckage pilfered through his pockets. Izuku reached them a couple seconds later as the gunman was thrown to the ground with a startled yell.

Wreckage didn't give any ultimatum, nor did he say anything for that matter. He just stared at Izuku before pushing the button of the device in his hands.

Several support beams blew up. Their structures failed, and suddenly a large chunk of the ceiling collapsed into the basement, sending dust and debris into the air. Izuku was forced to hide his face as the gritty cloud covered him for a second.

In the sudden chaos, Izuku could perceive something crashing in front of him, picking apart every gruesome detail. His senses heard the air leaving the man's lungs for the last time, and the blood that smelled heavily of metal.

Different scents crowded around his nostrils before Izuku could truly think on what had happened. The very same sourness that Airlock had been emitting whenever Izuku came close was suddenly taking up every single speck of the room. And slowly, every so slowly, Izuku realized what it was.

The scent was fear.

Every single enemy that had been fighting Izuku, shooting at them, threatening them and trying to kill them was thoroughly afraid. It was something that shocked the boy to his core. He had been associating these men with criminals of the worst degree. However, even criminals feared death. Sure, they were horrible people, but would Izuku be the same if he turned away from those who were afraid?

Without thinking about what he was doing, Izuku scooped up the man next to him, dragging him over to where they all seemed to be congregating. His body grew again as he perceived the building's collapse. Several large pieces of concrete shattered against his back, pushing his knees into the floor for only a brief second.

Izuku picked himself up faster than he fell, and the impacts did less and less to him as he moved. He had to actively crouch, crawling on his hands and knees to guide the man to the group.

More and more ceiling caved in faster. The man beneath Izuku was whimpering lowly as they finally reached the rest of them, but every one of them flinched away from Izuku's massive stature. In the corner, Izuku saw Randal slapping down more of his pseudo-concrete to help stall the collapse of the building around them.

Airlock was using his Quirk again, his hands grasping at the ceiling, and his features bunched up in concentration. Izuku almost felt bad for how high the man jumped when he noticed the boy crouching over most of the group of men, his back bracing itself against the falling ceiling.

The group didn't know how to react to the gesture. Some tried to stay far away from Izuku while others hurriedly chose to hide underneath Izuku's frame. Airlock also approached the tentative haven, offering a tiny, almost unnoticeable smile.

"Thank you…" the man whispered.

Randal grunted, continuing to use his Quirk until his skin stopped producing his cement. "Don't know how long that'll hold. Never really held any buildin's."

Izuku nodded as a sort of silent comraderie spread among the group. They had been enemies, but they were now trapped underneath a slowly collapsing building. It was more a pact with those you would die with, though.

More weight pressed against Izuku back, and he grew again. Not as drastically as before, however, his shell began to grow thicker and thicker. He felt something bud around the sides of his ribs, his armor cracking open as two muscular arms broke through to press against the floor as well.

Still, the additions only helped slow the fall. Air was filling with dust, and the sound of tumbling concrete constantly thudded in their ears. Breathing was getting harder as the space around them closed till everyone was underneath Izuku.

The boy himself felt as if the world rested on his shoulders. More and more weight kept piling up on his body, and the only silver lining was that the constant threat provided enough incentive for Ned's Quirk to let him grow larger and larger. Airlock was the first to press a hand on Izuku's chest, a futile attempt to stop it from crushing them as well.

"I never thought it would come to this…" the man spoke softly, each breath a labored effort. "When I first joined, Cale was everything I thought someone like me needed. Perhaps I was blind. I should have seen it when he treated everyone like a brother they never had; when I saw how easily he knew everything about me. He had persuaded me against being a hero, and like an idiot, I became a villain for the world he sung praises about."

"O' shut up." Randal groused nearby, watching as his pseudo-concrete began to fail against the weight. "Cale won' fo'get about us. We die fo' a better Tomorrow."

Izuku choked back a sob as more weight shifted onto his back. "Why… wh- what good comes out by dy- dying?"

"Nothing," Airlock answered, and Izuku found the man without his puffy mask. His features were what one would say were heroic, a strong jaw and bright, almost uplifting blue eyes underneath a head of brown hair. "Cale never shares his full plans with anyone. We know bits and pieces, but only the things he wants us to hear."

"Wh- why are you telling me th- this?"

Airlock had a nice smile. "You need to watch out for the police and some of the government officials. Cale has men in both. America is basically his playground, and no one really thinks to put much protection around a Quirkless guy like him. Promise me you won't underestimate him."

"I- I promise," Izuku squeaked out instinctually. "Why are you s- saying these things? Pl- please just stay put."

"And whatever you do," Airlock continued, ignoring how Randal was frowning at him. "Don't fight him. Not unless you are completely sure that you can put him away for good."

"Airlock, tha's enough…" Randal growled.

"My name is Andrew." Airlock snapped back, his voice raising a couple levels. His eyes fell to the floor as he sat down, defeated. "My name is Andrew… Not Airlock." Andrew looked back to Izuku, his smile apologetic. "I know it's a lot to ask of you, but can you survive? Its a little selfish of me to do this now, but if it's only for a second, please just let me say I'm sorry."

Realization was dawning on Izuku as the man smiled at him, and suddenly the boy felt more than the weight of the world. He struggled against the sheer mass against his back as several more men sat down to thank him as well as apologize. All of them had smiles that would burn into the back of Izuku's mind.

Ned wasn't struggling anymore, either. He was just laughing, a thunderous boom of malice that echoed along with all the emotions of everyone around him.

"Ple- please…" Izuku's voice was harsh. His vocal cords were inhuman, but at that moment, it still felt childlike. "W- we can survive. Ju- just don't give up... Please."

"Thank you, Izuku Midoriya." Andrew said.

Something snapped within Izuku's mind. A string of nerves that tugged on his lips every time he spoke. However, for the first time, Izuku felt like the criminals around him were giving up. He needed his words.

"Let me... save you!" Izuku yelled, and his stutter turned into a pause. A small step. "I can save you!"

Andrew closed his eyes tight, not daring to look at Izuku. "...I'm sorry."

Izuku cried, trying to pull on one Quirk in time to save everyone, but suddenly, the weight became too much. He grew while the Quirk escaped his control.

And the world collapsed around them.

Only a monster crawled out.

* * *

_Well, this was supposed to come out around last weekend. I kept having to push it back due to school complications, so I decided to mix together chapter 2 and 3 of Alpha. Most if not everyone had been wanting to know when the S9 basically direct Izuku. The next chapter will kinda outline how that works. _

_Now, for some people's questions. When izuku used Mannequin's power, I think it was brought up in the later chapters of Medic, but Izuku can force the Nine to work with him. It's exhausting compared to working with them, and they more often than not try to pry their way out of his control. Hopefully, I did a better job at describing that in this chapter. _

_Next Chapter: Old faces, new places_

_As always, Enjoy!_


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: **I do not own My Hero Academia, nor Worm. Those belong to Kohei Hirokoshi and Wildbow respectively.

* * *

Alpha(3)

Weight settled on his back, an enormous load that didn't seem to decrease. It felt like hours passed as more and more adaptations added themselves to Izuku's body; a slow, purposeful escalation that had no signs of slowing. Engorged flesh shifted underneath the cocoon of wrought steel and broken building, and with every passing moment, he was one step closer to clawing his way out.

At one point Izuku's nails had turned into thick claws, each sporting a broad base that curved like a shovel until it tapered to a sharp point. His neck had shrunk into his shoulders, and a thick brace formed over his head and back such that he could barely turn to look to his right or left.

Six limbs broke and twisted into their desired shapes even as they desperately grasped at the surrounding prison to pull and dig his way out. Izuku felt that the massive arms that had sprouted from his sides began to turn into legs with backwards knees and jagged claws.

Breathing wasn't a problem to him, either. He did it only to scent the air; to check if he was going up or down. It was the same with sight. Izuku could barely see in front of him, but at that point, he wished he could see less. The weight of the building only felt smaller in comparison.

More scents came to him as he shifted through his prison, tearing his way through to the surface. Familiar smells that he had begun to associate with friend, and ones that he had only seen as foe.

The friends are what he focused on first. They were outside, slowly moving in a certain direction, but for the most part, they seemed to be stationed around the fallen building. For the most part, he didn't smell too much blood. Most of which was what seemed like a shadow of his own smell mixed with a friend's.

However, that also meant that his friend was wounded.

A small part of his mind told him that she should be fine so long as her transformation held. The rest was rage; filled only with his too-loud of thoughts, and the incessant calls for blood. He had seen too much loss to really think through his decisions on a higher level. Merely a beast with the capacity to tell friend from foe.

Though, there was an even smaller, more guilty part of Izuku that felt relieved when he gave up. He let his instincts take hold; throw out everything that constantly separated himself from the personality that infested the space so close to him.

It was almost euphoric to break through his once inescapable prison with the thoughts of violence taking up most of his inescapable guilt. They were a brief sanctuary to his thoughts as his body pitched forwards, claws raking against the broken building below him. The dead were suddenly the last thing on his mind.

Light stabbed into his eyes, burning him with how brightly lit the world was. Only a few seconds was needed to cause those problems to disappear, but now that he could actually see, Izuku finally could look around to where they were.

The first thing that stood out to him were the tall buildings along the horizon, and it took him a couple seconds more to realize how far from Musutafu they were. Wherever Cale had decided to house them was certainly out of the way from civilization that Izuku could barely smell any signs of human habitation outside their little complex.

That didn't mean that there weren't any people, though, but it did mean that the wailing sirens Izuku heard were still quite a ways away. The boy in the guise of a monster felt that the heroes should arrive sooner than the police. Of course, all this information meant little to Izuku. He merely added it on habit while his instincts took him closer to the large group of cowering allies and friends.

"Midoriya…" his purple-haired friend spoke up, voice trembling slightly. "That's you, right? Are you- no, are you in a right state of mind?"

Izuku bent his body down, ignoring his friend to take a look at the one who partially wore his skin. There were small rivulets of blood dripping from sections of her armor, showing weathered abuse like a used punching bag.

A name and a cause fit into his mind. He turned his gaze over to a nearby abandoned parking lot that was at the perfect angle to deliver this payload at them, and briefly he caught the glare of something shiny. Then there was some exploding into his eardrums; a noise so loud that his massive body trembled with how his ears instantly popped.

The damage was healed before he even put to mind what was going on. Then, Izuku realized two things: Cale was still trying to do something, and that he needed to protect his friends.

At one point in time the boy probably would have stopped to wait for the police and heroes to come. He might have even begin questioning what exactly Cale was doing. Surely the man wouldn't keep this _idiotic_ charade up any longer without some inexplicable goal. However, that information was just added to the back of a mind of anger and instinct.

Izuku was riding high on his emotions, and the cause was all tied to Cale. The answer to all his problems came to him like a scream that cut through his thoughts.

He needed to kill the man. Rip the man to shreds while reveling in their useless attempts to stop him.

"Izu, are we going to go make those people who keep shooting at us bleed?" The friend wearing his skin spoke up, but Izuku just shifted so that he stood between her and the building. He had been working to using his new vocal cords, however all that kept coming out were guttural growls and inhuman grunts.

"I don't think he's understanding what we're saying. Processing, maybe. I think he's in a similar state to the people I… use my Quirk on. More importantly, is your crazy contagious?"

There was an indignant squawk that didn't sound quite right on her changed throat. "Why do you keep calling me crazy? I keep telling you I'm a perfectly normal girl. Shouldn't you, I don't know, be working to get Izu out of whatever he's doing?"

"And why am I suddenly the handler of all the nutcases? It's his stupid, overpowered Quirk; he should be able to control-"

Whatever he had been trying to say was suddenly cut off by Izuku suddenly taking off towards the building. More echoing cracks met Izuku's ears, but this time they were manageable. Behind him, his ears picked up just the barest traces of a curse.

"... hurry up, Crazy."

The voices began to fade out as more frantic gunshots were glancing off Izuku's armor, barely scratching the surface. Still, he was able to pick the last bits of the conversation behind him. All the words made him do was make him pick up his pace, though.

"So you do care about, Izu!"

"Shut up…" there was a pause. "I just don't have a good feeling about this."

It didn't take long for Izuku massive body to travel across the small dusty clearing between the two structures. There seemed like there had been an attempt at making a sidewalk to cross, but Izuku's claws had torn that up the closer he got to them. As for the parking garage itself, the thing looked like it only had a few more years before it collapsed in on itself.

There were signs of previous damage, some old and some that looked rather new. Chunks of support were missing, and Izuku could smell the rust from some of the exposed rebar skeleton. The place appeared to be some type of testing ground, or a gathering spot for criminals that didn't want to go to their main base of operations.

And Izuku slammed right into the side of the structure, belly first. Smells and sounds assaulted his nose and ears as the dirty, grey concrete crumbled underneath him. His six legs gored into the place, tearing through floors and sending massive chunks of material crashing down into lower floors like a chain reaction of demolition.

Through it all, Izuku was acutely aware of the fact that Cale's scent was constantly moving along with a couple others. There were other, odder scents that just added more information in a way to probably confuse him. It was as if people had entered the structure, and then suddenly left without physically leaving the building.

The notion that Cale had a teleporter, and was trying to make his getaway suddenly took most of Izuku's thoughts. That that man was trying to leave after all this nonsense was just another tick of fury that caused Izuku's legs to pump faster and his breathing to take on beastial growls.

Finally, after a few loud moments, Izuku's legs and feet found purchase as he pushed his way through the structure to complete his rampage. The floor gave way on some parts as he pushed onwards, but he was surprisingly fast for how large he was and how small of a space he was fitting through. Of course, when all he had to do was ignore most of the building, Izuku basically blazed a straight path right to Cale's position.

Breathing that was not his own trickled into Izuku's ears, and he caught the tail end of the last things Cale was saying. "... they gone yet? Dealing with that old monster while trying to understand our little hero is just bad business… good thing they were interested as well. Still, they barge in and ask to observe him all for… I had a whole three more stereotypical villain speeches planned, too."

A higher pitched voice spoke near Cale, alert and annoying. "He's coming, sir. His thoughts are all… weird. Like he's listening to both his own and another's at the same time, but now they're both trying to do the same thing."

"Interesting," Cale chipped in, and Izuku could hear the man clearer as he grew closer. "What are they saying?"

"They want to kill you… sir."

"Well," Cale said as Izuku burst through the nearest support, and the boy could see the man's infuriating smile through the cloud of debris he kicked up. "It turns out that he does have a bottom line." There a slight twitch in his smile. "Noted."

Izuku didn't speak or banter. There was no grandiose gloating before the house of muscle and flesh charged them with the intent of painting them across the walls. However, a small distance away from the group, Izuku crashed into a light blue barrier that appeared only after his shell cracked against the sudden obstacle.

Pain and confusion reeled back in some of the boy's thoughts. Nerves were firing at some response as Izuku blearily glared over at a blue-haired man. His outstretched arms and look of extreme concentration painted him as the perpetrator to the perceived injustice.

"Hey now, no need for violence." Cale spoke confidently, strolling up to the edge of the barrier as if Izuku were no threat. "We can talk this out, right? You don't want those cops to come around and see you grind us into bloody puddles. That ends badly for everyone involved, and I can tell you that your problem would probably start with All and end in Might."

Izuku slammed his head into the barrier again, and the whole thing shuddered, straining against his weight. He saw cracks begin to form only to disappear as the blue-haired man shouted and repaired it in time for Izuku to crash into it again.

A brown-haired man with glasses spoke up, his voice the very same one Izuku had heard earlier. "He's still in his trance. Though, from up close, I think his own voice is getting drowned out by a more forceful one- no, he's letting it happen. He's not fighting at all."

Cale was still smiling, switching his gaze from Izuku to the one who just spoke. "That's rather disappointing… I guess you can cross mentally stable off the chart now, huh. Oh well, its not like it matters; we got what we needed anyways." He turned back to Izuku, staring the boy straight in the eyes. His smile was sort of twitchy. Strained. "You know, you're pretty strong. A multitude of Quirks with effects that put most heroes to shame, but looking at the drawbacks here, I don't know whether to pity you or count my lucky stars."

Cale paused to motion to the last member of his small group. The person was female, her figure slightly obscured by the long cloak she donned. She nodded at the unspoken command, and, with the sound of clanking chains, there was another person suddenly laying at her feet.

Another woman based on their profile, and they seemed to be bound as well. Such a hostage situation shouldn't have elicited such a response from Izuku in his current state, however, all the anger and rage that clouded his mind seemed to freeze at the sight of someone familiar. Miss Hikiru lay before him, bound and separated from him by only a barrier.

He felt a pang of… something. It wasn't quite hope, but more like dread mixed in with more emotions than he cared to think of. Ned's disgruntled roars pitched in the back of Izuku's thoughts, anger and bloodlust suddenly sloughing off of his mind.

Miss Hikiru found him after wriggling around in her bounds for a moment, her face lighting up into that same smile Izuku remembered. The same one that made his heart warm. As if everything was going to be alright. The same one that kept overlapping with that evil sneer that ate at his curiosity.

And ultimately, it was the smile that brought him back.

"Iz- Izuku! Is that you? Please help me! These criminals captured me, and forced me to kidnap you!" Her voice brokered back and forth between crying and pleading. It was the shift in speak that caused her face to _glitch_ into something resembling a tearstained wreak that had just found her only hope. "You've got to believe me!"

"His thoughts have shifted, sir." glasses interrupted.

Cale smiled, a toothy, self-assured one. "Don't listen to her, Mister Midoriya. Miss Hikiru, or Nichose Takihara, is one wicked woman. Do you know that she has a habit of going around, pretending to work in child services, but then sells all the information she gains to anyone in the business of human trafficking? She's the reason that your two little, best friends are here. The reason that hundreds of children go missing every year." The man seemed to nod to himself as Izuku visibly flinched. "Think about it, a young hero takes in a couple of criminals, and saves several hostages. Do you really want to kill us? Become a villain?"

"You killed them…" Izuku finally spoke out, tearing his eyes away from the tearstained wreck that was his ex-therapist. His thoughts had cleared a bit, but now he had to deal with all this new information without answering any of the questions he had pushed aside. "W- why?"

"And he speaks!" Cale cheered, getting a nod from the man wearing glasses. "Your voice has changed a bit. You take any strong mints lately? My brother is pretty allergic to mints, you know. Need a minute to res-"

"Stop… you're stalling. I," Izuku paused, finding his need to kill the man in front of him oscillating in terms of desire. One part of him wanted to avenge those men who unjustly met their ends, but a larger part of him was just tired. He didn't want to lose Ned's Quirk while against so many enemies. "You ordered them to their de- deaths. They… didn't want to die, so why? Why are you doing this?"

Cale laughed, leaning so he could see the approaching red and blues of the police. "You seriously underestimate your worth, Izuku Midoriya. And while I have a habit of giving away my dastardly plans-"

"Stop!" Izuku interrupted again, pushing against the barrier with his front claws. A desire for sudden, mindless violence crossed his thoughts as he "Stop making a… _mockery_ of their deaths. They didn't deserve that. You didn't de- deserve them."

"Right, right." Cale acquiesced, he wasn't smiling anymore. "I start trying to get funny when I'm nervous; it's a rather annoying tick. And to finally answer you, their deaths were something that was inevitable to try to find how far we could push you."

Izuku was speechless for a second. His first thoughts were wondering if Cale was lying again, or maybe it was another ruse to turn his attention elsewhere. Though, the largest question on his mind left him breathless, despite his lack of need for air. "... me? Push me?"

Cale wasn't quite smiling. His lips were trying to smile while also straightening out. "Indeed, after all, everyone wants to know you. Though, I can't take all the credit. Miss Takihara is the one who thought up most of the scenarios."

Miss Hikiru, or Takihara now, jolted as if she were shocked. "Wha- that's a lie! Izuku, listen to me, don't listen to what he's saying! This man lives off of lies! He's deceiving you!"

More words trickled into his ears as Izuku listened. He didn't know what to believe, and nothing seemed to make the situation make anymore sense. Cale's objectives were still as confusing as when they first met him; probably even more confusing now. There were so many things the boy wanted answered. So many wrongs he wanted right, but he just didn't know how to do anything.

However, it was that very same indecision that caused him to twiddle his thumbs and keep his Quirks away from him for so long; afraid that he'd mess something up. Here, though, all he had was potential and definite enemies. Plus, they stood behind a barrier.

That was all the variables he needed to let his control slip.

The rest of the personalities rushed to him, stopping only at the very point where their Quirks wouldn't be expressed yet be able to yell at him. It was a sort of protection that stopped his Quirks from actually imposing themselves on him if he didn't want them; they couldn't cross that point no matter what they tried so long as even a sliver of his control remained. All they could do was yell at him. And Izuku was used to people talking shit by now.

Still, to say that he ignored all of them would be lying. As horrible as it sounded, Izuku needed these Quirks. More specifically, he needed one in particular.

"Well, it's been awhile since I've seen a standoff like this." Jack spoke smoothly, fitting himself in between all the other voices in his head. Izuku felt a little apprehensive to talk to the personality without actively using the Quirk as well. It was like facing a forest fire with a bucket of water. "There is a little irony in this whole thing, I'm sure."

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, the voices clamoring in his head all silenced themselves. The Quirks were suddenly as docile as lambs, or more aptly, hungry wolves. However, there was still the monochrome Quirk, glitching about as it toed the uncrossable barrier in Izuku's head like an anxious child.

Jack's voice filled the silence, a calm, almost rehearsed confidence flowing into Izuku's head. "Since you started this, it's only polite that you speak first. So, Izuku, talk to me."

* * *

_Well, this is a much smaller chapter, but it's packed with a bit of everything. Cale has been rather inconsistent in how I've been presenting him, and well, while I know what's happening, y'all don't. This chapter doesn't really state anything more than I think it needs to. His motivations are still wonky at best, totally convoluted at worst. I will say that there is a certain way to tell when he's lying. _

_As for the next chapter, I have a couple things this week, but since it might also be rather short, it might come out earlier. Those are two contradictory statements, though. Expect soon, but later than you think. _

_Next Chapter: Hitoshi uses his Quirk, everyone regrets._

_As always, Enjoy!_


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: **I do not own My Hero Academia, nor Worm. Those belong to Kohei Hirokoshi and Wildbow respectively.

* * *

Alpha(4)

"I'll do it." Izuku started. He knew enough about Jack that, even without the man's power, the boy thought he could manage. All he needed to do was set the pace.

However, instead of being floored or accepting, Jack chuckled. "When did your stuttering go away, Izuku? Makes you look a little more confident."

"I…" he paused before his could stutter. Izuku knew he couldn't fail this negotiation, but he was already having second thoughts on his decision. "I'm serious here!"

"Of course, confidence and recklessness are two things often not far apart." Jack continued, smoothly talking over Izuku. "Perhaps you should take a look into just where your confidence in your abilities is stemming from. Based on what I've seen, you certainly don't hold up to your promises. A shame, really."

A shudder wracked Izuku for a second, and he suddenly felt a little sick. Jack hadn't sent any images of death or murder like Riley or Ned would have done, however, his words cut deep into the recent wound in the boy's heart. For a second, all he could see were the nameless faces of the people Cale sent to their deaths.

"That's not true… I-"

"You mistake me," Jack interrupted, stressing the words like a taut string holding a guillotine's blade. "This is a compromise, correct? You want something, I want something, so we come to a deal. And like most deals, we both need to come to an agreement on the terms. I had given you that option once, and now, things are different. Though I must say, you certainly don't pick the best of opportunities for a deal. You'd get taken advantage of at this rate."

Izuku postured as much as he could. Jack could read that, but it was more for Izuku's peace of mind than anything. "What do you… want? You ask for too much always."

"No need to be so abrasive. We can settle this as civilized people; settle this like equals. Isn't that better?"

"No!" Izuku practically yelled back before his voice fell to barely a whisper. "No… We're not equals."

Jack hummed, giving the impression that he was leaning back into a comfortable seat. "You're right. We're most certainly not equals, but you can't lie that we're alike, you and I. You can tell, can't you? A little different agenda-wise, though."

"You're a killer." Izuku accused sharply, even he felt his voice was clipped and stronger than before.

"Indeed, I can't lie to you when you can just use my power at your leisure." Jack agreed. "However, I don't think you should disregard the fact that you, no matter how inadvertent, have killed as well. It makes you seem so callous to not even remember them now, Izuku. After all that."

"S- shut up! That wasn't my fault… It was… It wasn't mine."

"And I believe you. It wasn't your fault." There was a smile in the voice that Izuku couldn't really place. He knew it wasn't a kind one, though. "Yet, you know whose fault it was. You just don't want to spend more time finding out why; didn't want to dirty your hands and squeeze the truth out of the man. You're running away again; just like you did with Ned's Quirk."

"You're wrong!" Izuku spoke up, but he knew he had lost this conversation already. He assumed it was inevitable. However, stopping now would just be counterproductive to his goals.

And if Izuku knew, Jack knew it too.

"Am I? Take a step back and think, and I mean really think about it. When have I ever lied to you?" Jack started. "I'm not like the man in front of you. Lies aren't really that useful in the long run, and you certainly would figure out what I want before I can even start it, should I give you access to my Quirk that is. I stated I wanted you to kill people from the start. He stated he wants you to unite the world against this 'prejudice'. Sure, my motives are entirely selfish, but can you honestly say that yours weren't any different? Can you tell me, here and now, that you'd believe him over me?"

Izuku was silent for a moment. Jack's words basically promised his declaration to warp the boy into a killer, but at the same time, Izuku believed him more. And that just ate at him.

That silence was all Jack needed to continue, "of course, this situation isn't that big of a deal, to me that is. Asking you for too much would just reflect badly on my character. So how about a compromise: you need not kill, nor even injure anyone here. All I want is to talk to that man, Cale I think his name was."

"What?" It was Izuku's turn to be floored.

Here was a man who had once been trying to shove him into the limelight of a murderer, but now that had suddenly gone away, as if it was all but a bad dream. It was such a sudden change that Izuku tried to look deeper into what the man's motives might be. However, no matter how many times the boy thought over it, there didn't seem to be any way this would turn against him.

That only made him warier, though. Jack had been trying something the very day Izuku gleaned a bit of his warped and horrid existence, and his presence had been nothing but a slowly building problem. A threat not only to Izuku himself but everyone who came into the boy's little sphere of influence.

"No need to be so startled. I've had quite a bit of time to think about our previous… conversations, for a word, and I've come to a conclusion." Jack said. "Of course, I'm not going to tell you what it is. You'll be able to figure it out too fast, and that would defeat the purpose of my little game. However," his voice grew less jovial and conversational, clearly annoyed. "I am allowed to get mad at someone for intervening all of a sudden. So, I'll let you use my Quirk for whatever your little heart desires today, but I want to talk to Cale. Does that sound fair?"

Izuku didn't answer right away. His words were slow, and his mind was trying to catch up to what Jack wanted. However, it all came down to whose side he wanted to be on.

Cale was untrustworthy, if everything was to be considered. Miss Takihara had betrayed him once, and the boy simply wanted to figure out why his crush did that. There was no one in the room he trusted. Not even himself; Jack made sure of that conclusion long ago. Mostly, Izuku wanted to get closure for those people he had watched die.

It was no longer about who did what, nor was it concerned about what exactly happened. This was all about who he could trust to lead him to the answers he so desperately craved. And as much as it pained him, Izuku made his decision.

The next second, Izuku opened his eyes to the world. They locked onto Cale, skimming over Miss Takihara for the moment. Jack's Quirk was probably the most finicky of the Nine; it did lead his attention to anywhere, nor did it point out what people were doing, all he had were small nudges in certain areas. Not enough to directly get to the heart of the matter, but enough to drag out what he needed with a few stabs in the right place.

"Ah!" As if one cue, the man who had been talking about voices in Izuku's head yelled out in apparent pain. He fell to his knees, clutching his head between his hands and kneading his temples with each thumb.

Despite the sudden collapse of the man, Cale was calm, collected and still smiling. "Tokuda, what happened?"

"There's another… voice in his head." Tokuda bit out, wincing again. "I can still hear what its saying, but there a sort of echo to it. Like its talking to me directly while also talking inside the kid's head."

"Another voice? And he's still in that form?" Cale mused, sparing Tokuda a glance before looking back to Izuku's massive form glaring at them through the barrier. "Interesting. Can you still read him?"

Tokuda shook his head. "Not without getting another massive migraine, and even then I can only catch bits and pieces."

"That's fine then. I feel that we won't really want your Quirk being used in a couple seconds." Cale hummed, still smiling.

"Sir…"

Cale turned back to him. "Hush now. Call it a hunch, and give it some time."

Izuku flinched as Jack's Quirk settled right next to Ned's. He could feel the abilities already take hold, and there was a quiet understanding between him and the once anger-filled Quirk. Ned desired to be the strongest; to show everyone that nothing could harm him. Previously, Izuku had been fighting against the Quirk, restricting it so that he wouldn't have to kill people with every punch he threw.

While he couldn't exactly work around that, Izuku felt he could steer Ned somewhere else. Show him a different target to throw himself at, and leave Izuku in complete control.

"Don't worry about Ned." Jack spoke up, causing Izuku to involuntarily shiver. "I'll keep him under control. All you have to do is repeat after me, and then you're completely free to go wild."

Izuku felt his copy of Jack's Quirk react a bit, but he could really place the feeling. He kept thinking back to the previous conversation, wondering what game Jack was playing. It was like he was stuck in a feedback loop; one second he found a clue, but that just led him back to the fact that Jack was up to something.

It was rather annoying to find that the man had found a way to circumvent his own abilities.

"I… I have someone that wants to talk to you." Izuku rumbled, eyeing Cale even when the man knew that he was the only one that would be addressed.

Cale's smile dipped slightly, listening to the police sirens that rang nearby. "Then I think you've caught me by surprise. How should we start this? Introductions? Tea? I think I'm all out of tea, and I do believe that's the police that might ruin our little conversation."

"No need, this is only a small appraisal from one individual to another." Jack spoke as Izuku relayed it to Cale. "Knowing my abilities now, I suppose it makes sense to introduce myself as I have almost _no_ idea of who you are. Jack Slash, at your service."

Cale smile stiffened a bit. "A fairly odd name, but certainly within expectations. Considering you live in the kid's head and all."

"Yes, and C.C. does wonders to those who oppose you." Jack countered. Izuku couldn't quite get the inflection of Jack's voice correctly, but that mattered little to the content of what was being said.

"It's just good business. Makes my deals a bit more personal when they know my real name. However, I bet if I talked about that, I would just bore you." Cale spoke, smiling brightly. "You're digging for something, I can tell. I've met plenty of people who have tried."

"Not really digging. I already know; you've proven yourself a while ago."

Izuku was trying his best to keep up with the conversation. There wasn't much being said, and he could only glean a bit from Jack himself. Cale was a sort of blind spot; there weren't any areas he intuitively knew how to influence, nor were there any signs that pointed anything out directly. It was rather frustrating to be so in the dark with Jack's Quirk.

Cale's smile didn't waver as he answered. "Of course I proved myself. Conversely, you also proved yourself. Something I hadn't predicted, but nonetheless welcome. It makes my work harder and easier at the same time."

"A dangerous workplace, indeed." Jack said, but Izuku could tell his voice was a little sharper. "Perhaps if your decision was the opposite, we could have been… acquaintances, at the very least. But sadly, you fashion yourself as an artist when you are only a conductor."

"And I take it that you are the artist in this case? Not really that impressive, if you ask me. In terms of profits, quantity bests quality in the long run." Cale grinned, toothy and assured. "Of course, you're not even looking for profit, am I right?"

"Does profit really matter? So concerned about that when you miss the bigger picture." Jack shot back, and Izuku scrambled to say it. There was a certain tone to it. Annoyance and aggravation holding the majority of the words. It was almost too easy to read that Izuku felt Jack wasn't talking.

Cale nodded, as if the response was what he expected. His smile was rather strained. "And there's the nihilism I expected. I've talked to hundreds of people who thought the same; their experience probably wasn't up to your level, but the message was the same. You're going through the motions to try and corner me. However, something went wrong, right? There's a certain spark you're missing. Tell me if I'm getting hot or cold. I'm just dying to know."

"Fairly warm, but not quite there." Jack answered, as assured as possible. "Like I said, you miss the bigger picture."

Cale's lips twitched. "A draw, then? Or did you have a few more words to say?"

"No, I've got just what I expected from this conversation. You came away with more. I'll simply add you as a player." Jack admitted while Izuku internally wondered what the hell just happened. He had the exact same Quirk that Jack used, but the only thing he gleaned was that Jack couldn't get anything from Cale.

At the very least, Izuku understood that Cale was trying to steer the situation towards a certain goal, and Jack took offense to that goal. Other than that, though, there was just too much by play to actually understand just what happened. All that stuck out were the comparisons of artists and conductors, and the mentions of quantity versus quality.

They were the key. If only Izuku knew what that key actually meant.

"A player?" Cale's question brought Izuku out of his thoughts. "I suppose you'll have to teach me the rules; my brother always told me I'm terrible at playing fair."

"What a coincidence. You're already a step ahead of the game." Jack said, but there was a smile in the voice now. He paused for a moment before addressing Izuku alone. "Well, I had my fun, and I said my piece. Go on, Izuku, you're allowed to find out whatever you want now."

A shudder wrapped through the boy as Jack grew silent. There was just something about the fact that the man wasn't speaking that seemed off, unnatural. Izuku didn't have the experience to read into things that well, but Jack's Quirk could fill in most blanks.

Izuku made a note to not bring up what he found.

Instead, he focused on Miss Takihara still laying behind the barrier, untouched and bound. She had been looking back in forth between the smiling Cale and Izuku ever since Jack had begun. Her face said she was the picture of understanding and care, but Izuku read further. And he hated the bits he saw.

"You can't show your real face." His voice trembled in deep baritone. Ned's altercations made it seem more intimidating that the disappointment and pity Izuku currently felt.

Her face glitched faster now, and Izuku could read what it was trying to do. It changed depending on who she was talking to; always forming exactly what that person wanted. Never what she felt.

Like puzzle pieces finally clicking together, Izuku understood. Not everything, but enough to build the result. When he felt the need to be loved, or the desire to be cared for whenever his mom was in her coma, Miss Takihara's face would reflect that. Should his emotions or desires waver mid sentence, her face might glitch or change depending on what he expected.

And when he was finally betrayed by her, he was conflicted. One part of him wanted her to show the face of cruelty while the other simply wanted her to love him again. Yet, that love was never real. Just like her face. It was the sort of thing that dampened Izuku's thoughts till all he felt and knew was pity.

For Miss Takihara had never shown the world her real face. It was always hidden behind what others wanted from her.

Izuku leaned onto the barrier, pressing his weight on it enough for the person holding it up to huff and puff with effort. His eyes were locked on his ex-therapist, "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

Cale snapped and smiled. "I see, so that's what he does." He paused as everyone turned to him before shyly waving. "Sorry, forgot what was going on. Don't mind me."

"Izuku… what are you saying?" Miss Takihara spoke up first, her face glitching between shame, caring and acceptance. Izuku tried not to think too hard as to why. "Just help me out here. These people are horrible, disgusting individuals; you shouldn't listen to them."

Izuku's eyes closed, he felt something welling up behind them. Jack was doing as he promised, and had been keeping Ned under control as the boy felt something give within his chest. "Can you tell me if what Cale said about you before was… t- true?"

"What, Izuku?!" her face contorted into something of hurt and betrayal. Something that mimicked the boy's own. "Of course it's not true! I told you he's a liar; do you trust him that much more than me?"

"I see…" he whispered, weight straining against the barrier for a few seconds more. His clawed hands moved for a second, something extending from the edges of his claws, and suddenly the blue screen shattered, scattering like glass beneath the behemoth of flesh.

Before anyone had a chance to say anything, Izuku had already ran up to Cale, wrapping around the man with his body. The woman in the cloak shifted a bit, sounds of chains echoing in the background. Everyone else just froze as soon as they realized who exactly was under Izuku's mercy.

"You wound me, little hero." Cale said. "To think you'd take me as a hostage… I'm actually slightly impressed."

Izuku growled. "I don't think I'll be able to hold back this time. Tell me why you sent those people to their d- deaths! I want a clear answer."

The man just smiled, raising his arms in the air in surrender. "Now, now, no need to get hasty. I thought I already told you why I did it, and besides, what Quirk are you going to use for your little interrogation? Certainly not Jack's, I assure you."

People were shifting slightly around them, Cale's subordinates slightly off put by his own words. Jack's Quirk was saying how they probably wouldn't do anything if Cale was still alive, but the woman in the cloak was weird. It was like Izuku was getting multiple readings from the same place.

"You better tell me." Izuku said, listening as the crunch of boots met his ears. The police were drawing closer, and he wanted to at least get an answer before then. "... or else."

"And if I call your bluff?"

For a second, Izuku debated whether or not Riley would be able to come up with something, but he was cut off by a crackling of some speakers. He looked up just in time to see the fact that there were a legion of police mixed with heroes surrounding them. At the front was the blue-suited hero Izuku had met before, Slipstream.

He raised the live megaphone to his lips. "Legion of Tomorrow… and Izuku Midoriya, please cease and desist. You're outnumbered and outgunned."

"And if I don't?" Cale called out from within Izuku's prison. If anything, the boy admitted that he didn't have any fear, else he would have smelled it already.

Before the hero could speak, Izuku's ears caught a bit more shuffling along the sides where he had entered the building. Two familiar scents trailed into his nose, and the boy tore his watchful gaze from Cale long enough for him to see Hitoshi, riding atop a transformed Himiko, enter the confusion.

"Midoriya?" Hitoshi asked over the policemen trying to wall him away from the center. "Could you not grab me so roughly… yeah, I know, I'm not trying to get in this. I'm just trying to get that guy."

"You're Hitoshi Shinsou?" Slipstream asked, eyes not leaving the group in the middle.

Hitoshi nodded before frowning. "How do you know my name?"

"Can you use your Quirk to remove Izuku Midoriya from the premises? I'd rather not have him… complicate this matter." Slipstream answered, handing the megaphone over to Hitoshi before he could refuse.

"Wa- wait, you never told me how you know…" Hitoshi frowned up at the hero. There was something in the exchange that Jack's Quirk help Izuku make note of, but the boy didn't really know what to do with the information that Slipstream probably knew Hitoshi, Himiko and his own Quirks before meeting them. He had probably read it in the police files that he mentioned.

With a sigh, Hitoshi relented to switching on the megaphone. "I don't know if you heard or not, Midoriya, but apparently you need to get outta there. Leave this to the heroes or else Crazy here will probably do something stupid. Kind of like what you're doing right now."

Izuku thought over his options. His heart wasn't settled from the previous situation, and he still hadn't received his answer. Answering ment Hitoshi using his Quirk on him while not answering might exacerbate the whole thing.

For a second, Izuku leaned on the idea of leaving, finally drawing everything to a close. The police and heroes could solve everything from there on. However, from fighting against Cale's subordinates, struggling against the Nine's control and trying to assert control over Jack, Izuku felt he had lost on all accounts.

It was all so annoying to him. He had spent so much effort getting to this point, but now he was being told to leave it to someone else. Izuku had achieved so much, grown further than he ever had alone, and now he was told that he couldn't at least finish what he started.

Perhaps it was a little childish of him, but Izuku chose to ignore Hitoshi and continue to glare at Cale. He was the catalyst to all this. And Izuku felt he deserved the truth more than anyone.

Cale shrugged, smiling as Hitoshi's sigh once again reached Izuku's ears. "... what a stupid Quirk… Alright Midoriya, if you don't come over here now, I will tell everyone here what you were about to do!"

Snapping to meet the purple-haired boy's eyes head on, Izuku didn't even need to use Jack's Quirk to know he was telling the truth. Panic overrode the annoyance and anger at the situation, and Izuku's mouth opened on reflex.

"No don-"

"That's enough, Midoriya. _Get over here and stop using your Quirk_."

The order passed in an instant. Izuku felt he was on autopilot as his massive body jerked him away from Cale, but that was not all. He slowly felt the control over the Nine slipping away from him. The chains that bound them inside his head were dissipating as he moved.

Cale had yelled something in the background as Izuku left, but he felt like he was hearing things underwater. The woman in the cloak did something as the noise of several chains rattling echoed into the broken down parking garage. Where there was once space, men in army gear littered the area; some even standing within the ranks of policemen and heroes.

Izuku was sure there were people with Quirks following along in their ranks, however he couldn't be too sure. He was too far in his head to actually do anything other than reach Hitoshi's side before all hell broke loose. Darkness curled around his mind as the Nine encroached around Izuku's sphere of influence.

As his control slipped, the Nine drew ever closer to him. All of his hope seemed like it was swallowed up before something changed. Where he was once descending further in his mind, driven away as the nine other personalities finally had a chance to challenge for control, there was a sort of soothing calm that drew him back.

Now, if he had to compare the Nine to an animal, they'd be wolves. Pack creatures that followed an alpha, and Ned was constantly pressing against his control, even with Jack's help. Still, no matter how the monster struggled against its chains, Izuku felt he had some semblance of control. The same could be said for Jack, on some level.

Izuku felt that out of all of the Nine, that Jack was the alpha, and should he control the leader, he would control the pack by proxy. An analogy that made sense in his head. The Nine seemed to listen to Jack as well as take his orders.

However, on the brink of losing himself, Izuku witnessed something that threw his previous idea out the window. The monochrome Quirk that seemed to flicker like static pulled him back from oblivion while grabbing Jack and Ned's Quirks with massive green chains, and throwing them over its metaphorical shoulder. There was a sort of tense silence in his head before more massive green chains extended from the Quirk to grab hold of the rest of the Nine in some odd version of a stranglehold.

At that moment, Izuku could only feel confusion as he was controlling his body, but also taking a backseat that the same time. It was clarifying as much as it was terrifying. He had just figured something out even if it was under rather dire circumstances.

That neither Jack nor Izuku were the alpha in their little dichotomy.

Izuku's flesh suit fell off in chunks, dispersing into fine, red mist the next second. He felt their line of sight fall lower than he expected while his arms and legs shrunk down. Monochrome flesh was all that shone in the air, glitching as if a flicker of static shook his physical form every time a dust around them kicked up.

"What…" Hitoshi spoke nearby, his voice cleanly breaking through the chaos that the world had descended into. Police were shooting nearby, gunshots took up the majority of the air and Quirks were being tossed around like candy. Being pretty removed from the main fighting, Hitoshi and Himiko were probably one of the only ones who took notice of Izuku's sudden transformation into a grey toned six-year old.

Izuku's face broke into a smile as he stared at them then at the fighting around them. His hands found theirs as he enthusiastically shook their arms up and down. "Hi! My name is Izuku Midoriya, and I'm going to be a hero! Are you villains?"

"Nope!" Himiko answered easily despite Hitoshi's clear confusion. "We're your friends!"

"Friends?" Izuku tilted his head to the side, a stray bullet tearing into his back only for his body to glitch back to normal. He flickered somewhat after the action, making it look as if he had turned to face the shooter while also continuing to stare at Hitoshi and Himiko. "I've always wanted friends! Oh, but are these guys villains?"

"Yeah!" Himiko answered before Hitoshi could derail this line of worry. The purple-haired boy had been sweating up a storm ever since Izuku's new appearance came out.

Izuku just smiled wide enough for Hitoshi to see the madness underneath. "Wonderful! I wonder how loud they can scream?"

* * *

_I think someone asked what would happen should Hitoshi order Izuku to stop using his Quirk. This is what happens. As for why Grey Boy didn't appear exactly, that will be explained later. For now, just think over the implications of this... actually this entire chapter was implications. _

_The little back and forth between Cale and Jack makes sense to me, though. I can already see people saying that Jack should have dominated it more, but I feel this works better. Jack's power works on individuals with powers, however he's no slouch when it comes to manipulation either. If he runs into someone who he can't talk or think around, and as long as they have an idea of how to counter said manipulation, Jack will run into an impasse. A little convoluted, though. _

_Anyways, while quite a bit in the conversation between Cale and Jack probably doesn't make sense, I swear a interlude will make things clearer. _

_Next Chapter: Hitoshi's Interlude: Speak no Evil_

_As always, Enjoy!_


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: **I do not own My Hero Academia, nor Worm. Those belong to Kohei Hirokoshi and Wildbow respectively.

* * *

Interlude 1 - Speak No Evil

"Wonderful! I wonder how loud they can scream?" Izuku's words were high pitched, almost as if he were a child. Which, considering the current form's size, Hitoshi was forced to recognize that, yes, the eleven year old looked remarkably like he lost half his years.

The transformation really shouldn't have bothered him. He had talked down Izuku when he was an almost house-sized, six-legged… thing? Monster? That was probably a bit much, but the boy was certainly a spectacle.

Izuku's current form was not even in the same ballpark. He looked as if someone took a grayscale and switched every single color on the boy's body with it. Slightly chubby cheeks that still hadn't quite lost their baby fat, and stubby limbs that one would expect from a child of five or six was something that simply didn't fit anywhere on a scale of threatening.

A white and black suit fit over the boy's body. Hitoshi knew Izuku wasn't wearing such a thing, and he sure as hell didn't think that this form's only ability was to change colors and clothes. Hitoshi honestly wondered more about why his Quirk didn't work on Izuku exactly. Except, the bright, almost overwhelming smile on Izuku's face distracted the rest of his attention.

It was so unnatural.

Izuku had been the very picture of a secluded and shy individual when they first spoke. Hitoshi had him pinned as a pushover right before the boy broke free from his bonds, and began snapping people's rib cages with fists the size of an adult's head. That should have been the first indication of something very wrong.

Sure, he had seen the signs in Crazy; the girl practically gave it away with her insane ramblings about making people bleed. He didn't really care at that point, though. Hitoshi needed to get out, and working together with the mentally unstable girl and overpowered but overly shy boy was his only option in the matter. Izuku at least seemed like a good person despite being blessed with such a Quirk.

However, he missed the signs, and that hit him harder than anything. He should have seen it coming. Hitoshi knew more than anyone that his own Quirk was a bit more than just brainwashing people.

People always had something that would make them talk. Whether it was an insult or a compliment, Hitoshi intrinsically knew how to get people to speak up. It was something that always nibbled at the back of his mind. Mentioning his teacher's age would get her to speak, talking about the pretty girl in class would cause the kids with less villainous Quirks to insult him, but even just talking would cause most of his peers to insult him. Really, all this secondary ability did was improve his insults.

And also tell him that mentioning his Quirk would turn most people against him.

Perhaps it was inevitable that he'd grown a bit cynical to the whole situation. That no matter what he said, they'd always be against him. So, he'd let his actions speak louder than his words.

It was why he didn't really think too hard why getting Izuku to talk was so easy, and why he didn't pay too much mind to why his provocations kept changing. So long as Izuku was trying to help people, Hitoshi didn't really look too hard with his Quirk. Perhaps one part of him didn't want to know when Izuku inevitably turned against him.

However, he was currently regretting something he should have noticed. He had the means, but what sort of prospective hero didn't see the pain the boy went through.

"Why do you look different, Izu?" Himiko's voice dragged Hitoshi back to the center of his guilt.

The gray tone Izuku never broke his smile as he looked over the chaos of the room around them. Deafening gunfire tore into their ears as several of Cale's men shot their rifles, and Hitoshi and Himiko were forced to flinch at some of the sounds.

Izuku just shuddered before his body flickered like static. "Izu? Is that my nickname? How great! I've never really had one!" He pursed his lips, knocking a knuckle on his temple. "Well, we've had one, but Jack doesn't really tell me."

Hitoshi wouldn't show it, but he was beginning to build an idea why Izuku was so shy. Unknowingly, saliva was beginning to build in the back of his throat. "And who," he started. "Who's Jack?"

"He's…" Izuku glitched, looking as if he brought a hand to his chin to think while another iteration of him was frowning at the nearby policemen. "He's an annoying guy. He keeps telling Izuku to not be a hero, and trying to get Izuku to kill people. Which is not good. Heroes don't kill people."

Himiko brought a hand to her cheek, which looked weird as her form was still larger than a regular adult and much less feminine than the gesture she was trying. "Wait, are you not Izuku? You're talking funny."

Hitoshi frowned as his head spoke told him more than what was being said aloud. Slowly, his suspicions were being proven, and that didn't bode well for either of his acquaintances.

He honestly wondered why he even went so far. When he first saw Izuku all he knew was a boy with a powerful Quirk, and Himiko definitely had something wrong with her head. The presence of police should have stopped all need to continuously involve himself with either of them.

However, Himiko mentioned that Izuku had personally knew the police. That only brought the question: why was he here then? Hitoshi's Quirk was telling him many things to say, but they were all good things about the police. If he were to think about his abilities to insult people, wouldn't that mean that Izuku felt the opposite about the police?

Hitoshi was grasping at straws. He wanted a reason for his actions, and directly walking into a police crackdown was perhaps illegal in some sense. If he was going to break the law, there had to be a reason why he would go after a literal behemoth on a warpath.

Not because he started to think of the boy as a friend. While he was sure that Izuku wouldn't insult him, he wouldn't go and disobey his authority figures for people he'd known for only an hour or two. Yes, there had to be another reason.

As Hitoshi was convincing himself why he was there, Izuku finally answered. His face scrunched up in confusion as well as an emotion Hitoshi didn't quite understand. "I'm Izuku Midoriya… I want to be a hero… I'm the Slaughterhouse… no, I'm not. I'm not. I'm-"

A nearby gunshot cut off the boy before his mind could break any further. Hitoshi would have thanked the policeman if not for the fact that Izuku snapped his head to the sound. The gray boy was frowning.

"Guns are bad. My mommy doesn't like them, too." He said, and suddenly there was gray bubble around the handgun, large enough to cover all the way from the tip of the gun to the man's wrists. It drained the color till it was the same palette as Izuku's own.

The man screamed, a high-pitched wail as he finally took notice of the monochrome boy next to him. Several other officers nearby finally took notice of him too, and their reactions were similarly panicked. They threw their guns on the ground in a hurry before dropping to the ground.

Despite being rather close, Hitoshi could only catch the small bits of what was being said as they yelled to each other. "Shit, not again… All Might! Call him now!"

"W- we can't! The chief said only Slipstream was allowed!"

"Call someone! Everyone! If he starts going crazy, we don't have enough peo-"

Hitoshi felt something nearby, the air shifted as a figure simply popped into being. They were a large male, standing on the ground near Izuku. Another power, Hitoshi's mind supplied as he realized that Izuku had definitely overpowered his brainwashing somehow.

However, the notion that Izuku could have two Quirks active and Hitoshi's own failure were quickly glossed over in the boy's mind. All of his attention was on the man who appeared near them.

Hitoshi wanted to call the figure All Might, but the longer he looked, the more he realized everything about the man was wrong. Their suit looked more like skin with various shades of black and white to resemble one of All Might's old suits. Around the wrists it appeared as if someone had tore at the suit as the skin transitioned to a series of black and white stripes till they reached his unnaturally long and sharp fingernails.

However, if there was any thought that the man could be All Might, that vanished once Hitoshi took a look at the person's face. Somehow it resembled Izuku to a degree, except it was twisted into a disturbingly large smile that looked like a bloodthirsty version of the number one hero's own. Two large portions of its hair were standing up like horns or disturbingly sharp bunny ears. All of its seemingly exposed skin and hair were covered with the same black and white stripes like its hands. It was as it they were there to prove how beastial the whole person was.

Hitoshi was sure everyone nearby stopped breathing for a second as the facsimile of All Might looked around. Somewhere behind its eyes the boy was sure he saw a predator that was starving for something violent. It only reinforced his apprehension as the person raised one finger fit with its sharp nail, held it perpendicular to the policeman with his hands in Izuku's bubble and swung down.

If he hadn't been watching, Hitoshi would have missed something extending from the edges of the nail right before the man fell free from his black and white prison. In the same moment, a gash appeared in the direction the man was swiped, goring into the far wall and floor of the parking garage. A cloud of dust shot into the air, obscuring the area for a second as something gave and crashed down in a separate portion of the garage. Hitoshi took a second to look at the fact that he now could see straight through the gash to the outside.

There were a couple seconds of silence before the policeman screamed, and Hitoshi had to hold in his stomach as well as correct his initial thoughts on how he was freed. Where he once had hands, there were only profusely bleeding stumps.

Izuku's cheerful voice cut through the man's screams and cries like some kind of demented comedy act. "Thanks for the help. He wasn't being very nice; I thought I said that guns weren't very nice? Oh well, some people need to know better."

Calmly, the boy walked over to the whimpering cop, and clamped his hands around each of the man's stumps. He smiled while the man began to whisper something unintelligible. Then his whispers turned into screams as Hitoshi's nose recoiled at the smell of something burning.

Fires licked around the edges of Izuku's palms and in between his fingers, blackening the skin on the cop's forearms. Himiko and Hitoshi were stuck in place as the All Might rip-off turned to the rest of the chaos, and began walking through the gunfire. Bullets flattened on its skin as some policemen screamed in terror at the grinning visage of the man.

Every now and again the beast of a man would lazily swipe at the air, and something would extend from its claws right before another scene of carnage appeared. Several policemen had accidentally gotten in the way, having portions of their pistols and weaponry torn apart or suddenly falling as they stood on one less leg. The criminals on Cale's side were another matter entirely. They screamed as the rip-off walked, leaving men with at least one or two missing limbs and growing rivers of blood as it passed.

Hitoshi had to hold in his stomach as the smell forced itself into his nostrils, and yells for help echoed in his ears longer than he thought they should. He felt that some portion of this was all his fault. His Quirk had somehow caused Izuku to go insane. However, the only silver lining he found was that, while some were bleeding out, the All Might rip-off hadn't killed anyone. It was getting close, though.

As if it were the start of a bad horror movie, the massive shootout that was underway came to a stuttering halt. Without even stepping out himself, Izuku had effectively taken control of the entire room. All the sounds at the moment were the screams of the one policeman in Izuku's arms and the cackling of fire.

"Sorry about the quick job," Izuku stood, patting out the smoldering fires in his palms as the policeman curled around his burnt stumps. "I didn't want you bleed out, but you can't be too picky." He turned to the silenced room. "Oh! I'm glad you all stopped; it saves me a couple seconds! Can the bad guys raise your hands?"

Hitoshi saw a couple policemen shift awkwardly, shooting nervous glances to the All Might rip-off and the actual criminals. Himiko had ended her transformation sometime ago, and she had just been staring at Izuku without blinking for a couple seconds. The purple-haired boy was almost impressed she hadn't been going off on some inane ramble about all the blood if it wasn't for the deep frown set deep in her face.

She leaned over to Hitoshi, whispering lowly in his ear. "I'm beginning to think that's not Izu…"

"Any ideas?" Hitoshi never let Izuku or the other man out of his sight.

Himiko bit her lip, eyes dangerously close to tears. Hitoshi wondered why she was so serious about someone she had only known for less than a day. "... I don't know… could we beat our friendship into him or something?"

"I don't think…" Hitoshi sighed, wondering why he asked anyways. "This isn't an anime. I think his Quirk is messing with his head."

"So we punch him in the head? I think I have a couple more minutes of Izuku's blood, so maybe-"

Hitoshi cut her off. He didn't know if she was being serious or not, but he was somehow annoyed at her suggestion. "I swear, your crazy better not be contagious… The situation is a little more… volatile. We can't just charge him when we have no idea what his new powers do, or if he is using all of them at the moment."

"Izuku Midoriya, cease and desist." Of course, the blue suited American hero chose now to open his mouth. Hitoshi knew that whatever was about to come out of his mouth wasn't going to help anything, and he didn't even need his Quirk to be able to tell that. "Under the charges of assaulting an officer and obstructing justice, I recommend that you should surrender."

"You tell him, hero!" Cale spoke up, peeking over a piece of fallen rubble.

Izuku tilted his head, almost as if he was confused about what he did. "I'm just trying to help. Besides, you're not the one to talk about obstructing justice to me. There's only one hero-"

Before Izuku could finish speaking, he pressed himself low to the ground as Slipstream waved a hand in front of him. Hitoshi felt like someone had just turned on a small wind turbine as the wall across from Slipstream cracked and shattered. There was suddenly a nearly perfect, circular hole behind Izuku.

"Attacking a child now?" Izuku asked, his form suddenly shifting as the same fleshy mass poured from his body like when he used that monstrous form. However, instead of forming a shell over Izuku, the very same gray Izuku popped into existence right next to the bubbling flesh suit. The next second, the suit bonelessly fell to the ground like a puppet without strings. Not even a second later, another mass of bubbling flesh tried to cover the boy again only for the same thing to happen.

Izuku blinked as he appeared once again. He looked back to the mess of flesh that didn't dissipate into a familiar red mist. "That's new…" a terrifying smile was in his voice.

More gusts of wind began flowing in the room as Slipstream kept gesturing around him, and the policemen had backed off for a bit, grabbing their wounded while hoping the hero could do something. Hitoshi could see the second-rate heroes stacked around the edges, eyeing Slipstream like he was the only hope in this case.

Izuku was continuing to smile even as his body kept randomly teleporting out of the bubbling flesh that poured out from his body, and suddenly fires began to bloom around his feet. They didn't spread very far from him, and the whipping winds all stopped them from roaring into the sky, but they did serve to cause the room to heat up a bit more.

Slipstream was the first to break the minor stalemate as he suddenly shot forwards. His body was moving so fast that Hitoshi only saw a blue blur before the area in front of Izuku was enveloped into a screen of those gray bubbles. However, right before Slipstream rammed into them, his body shot to the right without losing any of his previous speed.

Their dance of Slipstream darting around in impossibly fast right angles, and Izuku erecting walls of grey bubbles in milliseconds continued on. Every now and again Slipstream would pause long enough to throw one hand in Izuku's direction, forcing the boy to duck and weave around the sudden wall of pressurized air that the professional hero shot at him. One time Izuku had been hit during their exchange, and the blast slammed Izuku into the floor long enough for his body to contort against the hard concrete. The damage was gone as the boy's body flickered a second before the battle continued.

Hitoshi was getting a headache as he tried to follow everything going on, and he could see Himiko trying to do the same. Focusing somewhere else, Hitoshi found that Cale and several of his lackeys were using the fight as a smokescreen to retreat. A small pit of anger built up in the purple-haired boy as he nudged Himiko's shoulder, gesturing over to the escaping group.

"What about Izu?" Himiko asked, her face switching between Cale and the still fighting Izuku.

Hitoshi pursed his lips, not quite frowning. "I don't know how we can stop him right now."

"Can't you use your brainwashing thingy?"

"I…" Hitoshi flinched, not wanting to say that his Quirk was exactly was caused this mess. That was his own guilt. "I think he has some resistance to my Quirk."

Himiko looked at him. A silent gaze traveled for a few seconds before she nodded, either convinced or not wanting to press the matter. "Fine. We can beat sense into Izu later, but Izu would be mad if we let the bad guy get away, too."

"How much time do you have Izuku's form for?" Hitoshi asked, carefully keeping his head out from the fight between Izuku and Slipstream. The All Might rip-off had joined the fight, and had been no selling the hero's streams of superfast air. However, the fires that gathered around Izuku were being blown away before they could even form.

"I should have enough." Himiko whispered before quickly following him, transforming into a massive, black carapaced beast at some point. Despite the circumstances, Hitoshi found that her gaze was more focused on Izuku's fight with the hero.

"He'll be fine."

Himiko watched as Izuku was spinning to meet the fast-moving hero, and suddenly more of those gray bubbles appeared. They couldn't have been larger than a meter in diameter, but the amount that Izuku could summon in an instant was getting rather insane. If there was one weakness to it, Hitoshi hadn't seen them move since they appeared. That mattered little when Izuku didn't even seem to be winded as the room slowly began to be filled with them, casting everything caught inside them in a familiar gray.

Himiko flinched as Izuku took some of his discarded flesh only to begin molding it into something before being flattened like a pancake by Slipstream's blasts. "Will Izu be a villain now?"

Hitoshi didn't respond. His lips just opened before quickly closing. Some part of him felt guilty for pushing Izuku into this. "I don't know…"

Instead of dwelling on that line of thought, he focused on how one of Cale's subordinates got caught in one of the gray bubbles, and watched as the man couldn't move his shoulder out of the small, grey prison. After quickly stopping Himiko from poking one of the bubbles, the two of them quickly picked up their pace to Cale's group.

Hitoshi had tried his best to not gag as the two passed some of the more bloody parts of the area they were in. His shoes were quickly leaving a trail of blood as they splashed into another puddle of red, and while the boy could push down his disgust to some degree, he couldn't help it as a severed arm came into his sight.

It was the last straw. His resolve crumbled a bit as he bent down to release his stomach, choosing Himiko as his closest support. Tears begged to fall from his eyes as the boy wondered just how much damage his words caused.

Himiko patted his back with one of her abnormally large hands. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I-" Hitoshi coughed, spitting the taste of stomach acid from his mouth. He briefly felt that asking if she was alright with all this would get an answer he already knew. "Let's just get this over with."

Hitoshi didn't want to say that he was not okay. No part of his day revolved around actually thinking about what to do during such a situation, and while the boy tried to hide behind the veneer of calm, inside he was anything but. He didn't know if this was just a normal day as a hero, or if he was in over his head.

However, one thing was for sure. He locked onto Cale, the instigator in all this. Catch him and stop Izuku from going insane; those were the two goals. And Hitoshi was done taking the backseat.

"Stop!" Hitoshi's voice commanded, not really expecting anything.

Cale jumped a bit, shaking his head as he saw the purple-haired boy. He gestured over to the two of them, and Hitoshi was forced to duck behind Himiko as the barks of gunfire bit into his eardrums. Bullets skidded across the pavement for a couple seconds as Hitoshi's cover made sure he was okay.

"Don't worry!" He yelled over his ringing ears. Out of everything today, he never suspected that he would get used to the sound of guns faster than anything. "Charge them before they try to run!"

Himiko didn't need anymore instruction, running at them like a freight train. Hitoshi tried to keep up behind his source of protection, sticking close to the side opposite of the moving people. In the panic of seeing Himiko charging, one of them happened to get caught in one of Izuku's bubbles; he quickly lost control of his movements with his leg bending unnaturally as he fell. There was a snap as his leg went one way while his foot stayed rooted inside the bubble.

"Watch for the bubbles!" Cale yelled, ducking away from Himiko as she tried to reach for him.

Hitoshi winced as a bullet struck a little too close to comfort, choosing to pick up his pace and stick to Himiko like glue. "Isn't this getting long!" He yelled over the gunfire again, addressing Cale's minions now. "We don't really need to fight; just stall long enough for Midoriya over there to come and clean you up. Why work for a guy who has sent some of his other subordinates to death, huh?"

"Shut up! What does a kid like-"

"Be quiet-"

"Wait! Don't answer hi-"

Several men quickly clamped their mouths shut as the rest stared back, defiantly looking at the rest. Hitoshi smiled. "_Stop the rest of your friends, and wait for the police to arrest you all_."

Himiko glared over the rest, helping those brainwashed to get rid of their previous allies. Things were looking like they were going to be cleaned up fairly easily as Himiko used her size and strength to bend the more uncooperative members of the opponents to her fist. However, Hitoshi missed Cale for a second, giving the man enough time to dash past one of his subordinates, snatch a pistol from their hip and charge the purple-haired boy.

From the sheer absurdity of the action, Hitoshi took a couple seconds to fully comprehend that their previous kidnapper had chosen to fight. Himiko was quicker on the uptake, and she had transitioned to standing in front of her squishier friend.

Cale didn't flinch at the sight of Himiko's form, despite it towering a couple heads above his own. Neither did he back away from the horizontal swipe that she unleashed the next second.

Her arm blurred at the speed of it, winds shifting at the power building behind the blow. The criminal was already ducking low, though; his free hand and chest brushing against the floor as the massive arm swung overhead. It missed by a hair.

He smiled, shooting forwards in his run. Hitoshi was barely following the speed of the fight, and only caught it as the man was pushing himself out of a desperate punch Himiko sent, crossing her arms in an effort to actually hit him. Like the previous one, Cale dodged that attack before raising his pistol in the same movement.

His hand bucked twice as two bullets skittered on Himiko's skull, tracing lines dangerously close to her eyes. Her response was more instinctual than anything; instantly, her head snapped back as her arms rose to try and protect her eyes. With how top heavy her form was, the action was all she needed to topple onto the floor with an echoing crash.

"Crazy!" Hitoshi yelled. While she was durable, he wasn't actually sure how much time they had till her form ran out.

There was the click of metal near him that drove Hitoshi to worrying about himself more than his acquaintance. Cale was smiling, not even looking like his previous show was taxing. "I think you have more immediate problems to worry about. Now, what was that phrase? Right. No funny moves."

He turned to Himiko, finding her already next to the two of them. "And that includes you, too. Don't think I can't shoot your little friend faster than you can stop me. Or do you want to take that chance?"

Himiko didn't move, but Cale didn't seem to mind. He just took the lull in action to saunter closer to Hitoshi till the boy felt the cool cylinder pressing against his temple. The criminal's breath brushed dangerously close on Hitoshi's other side, and the boy shivered.

"Don't take this the wrong way, kid." The man whispered. "I'm not into that sick shit. This is just a precaution for your little friend over there. I've been trying to put together a little chart of his Quirks, and this one, I've found, has a fairly static range in its area of effect. What do you think will happen should he put one around me with you in my grasp?"

"You do know that I can get out of this easily?" Hitoshi countered. However, Cale just pressed his pistol harder against Hitoshi's skull instead of responding. The message was sent anyways.

Hitoshi found his eyes roving over to Himiko. His fears were proven as her form slagged into a sort of grey sludge that sagged off her smaller, actual body. To make matters worse, the unbrainwashed subordinates behind them had stopped their allies, and had trained their guns on Himiko.

"Don't shoot her, you idiots!" Cale yelled. "She's your only ticket of leaving with all your limbs still attached, so treat her nicely."

"You don't actually think this will work?" Hitoshi spoke up, flinching as the pistol dug deeper. "I mean, think about it. Midoriya is seriously unhinged over there; what's to stop him from-"

"Hitoshi!" A scream shook the purple-haired boy as he realized that Himiko had just called him by his name. And she didn't sound the least bit happy. "Don't you dare insult, Izu. Even if he's acting weird; he's still your friend. Friends don't make fun of friends, even when they're being held hostage by meanies."

"Meanie…" Cale repeats, and Hitoshi could feel the smile in his voice. "I prefer the term revolutionary to anything. Besides, I think I agree with our dear Brainwasher over here. He probably never had any friends to turn to, after all; his own standing here is probably surprising even to himself."

Hitoshi couldn't see it, but he was sure Himiko was pouting. "I'm not listening to you! Grumpy is here because he's trying to help his friends, and you're here because you want something from Izu! It was never about us; everything here has to do with Izu!"

Hitoshi felt the man freeze up for a second. "Geez, look at the brain on that one. To think I thought of you as the ditzy, little psychopath that you are. Well, congratulations Himiko Toga, I officially deem you expendable. I only needed one anyways."

"Wait! Don't shoot her!" Hitoshi yelled out, not liking where this was going. Cale was no-selling his Quirk by responding to anyone but him, but that didn't mean he would watch as his… acquaintance died, even if she was unnecessarily antagonizing the people holding them hostage. Again. "You want to get out of here, right! I'll talk to Midoriya, and get him to let you guys go. Just call off your men!"

The barrel of the gun easing a little from his head was all the indication of an answer Hitoshi was given. "Don't shoot her." Cale finally ordered his men. "I'm going to go with this brat over here, and we're going to talk to the source of chaos over there."

"You won't get away, you know!" Himiko yelled, and Hitoshi wondered if she really had no self-preservation instinct or she really was utterly crazy. "Izu can beat whatever you're planning to do; whether he uses his Quirk or not, you've already lost."

Cale sighed, and Hitoshi was really wondering how much self control the man had for not just shooting her already. His voice was low enough that Hitoshi barely caught it. "Really, they only knew each other for a few hours at best. Where is this even coming from…" he then spoke up, "Alright, I'll humor you. What does he have that'll foil all my plans, and make me lose?"

"He'll make you _bleed_."

Hitoshi wanted to slap his face at the sheer gravity the girl put those words with. Out of all the things she could have said, he found that those fit her the best, but at the same time, he felt that she shouldn't have spent so much time building up to them.

However, not even a second after she spoke, a scream ripped through the air. A blue blur slammed into the ground right in front of Cale and Hitoshi, and the boy only had a second to see Slipstream, covered in a multitude of shallow and deep gashes, laying before them. Another thing that the purple-haired boy noticed almost immediately was the fact that the hero was missing his left foot, his ankle looking almost as if someone mangled it beyond all belief before ripping it off.

The All Might rip-off landed next to him, dust not even rising from its fall. Its bloodthirsty grin grew as it pressed a foot on the hero's back, pressing him harder against the concrete till the man groaned in pain. Izuku popped into the area the next second as a suit of flesh dropped a couple meters away.

"I think I'm getting a hang of that." Izuku mumbled, looking at a severed foot in his hand. Hitoshi took a few seconds to realize that that was probably the hero's foot. "Oh, but don't worry about the premature amputation, since you're a hero I'll give you a better one. However, you have to ask nicely. My Mommy always told me that people need to be gracious."

He smiled down at the battered hero. "Did you really think I wouldn't figure out what you were doing? Putting down areas of fast moving wind can only get you so far, but really, you name gave out more information that anything. All I needed to do was figure out which way your network of paths were going, and interception you was rather easy."

Above Izuku's palm was a small swirl of sand, that danced in the slight draft of the room, and Slipstream's eyes widened. "Sand?"

"Yup! It was pretty easy to figure out after I started slipping some in through your pathways."

Cale cleared his throat from behind Hitoshi. "Pardon me for interrupting your time, but I think we were wanting to make a deal. You see, I came into these hostage-"

"My friends!" Izuku smiled, looking over their group with not even a hint of worry. "Why did you guys move? Did you want to join in on the fun? You're both too vulnerable, though. Oh, I can fix you two up real quick!"

"As I was saying, I think you wouldn't like it if our fingers slipped up a little bit, so I propose a trade of-"

Izuku frowned over to Hitoshi, aiming more at the man behind him. "Can you be quiet for a bit? You're being really annoying. I'm trying to talk to my friends here."

"Alright, I'm going to shoot the girl."

"Wait!" Hitoshi yelled, trying to stop the criminal, but ending up gathering Izuku's and the All Might rip-off's gaze. "I uh, we really don't want to get shot. So, Crazy and I made a deal with them to ask to let them go so long as we are safe."

"Just shoot them, then." Izuku said, not even taking a second to think about it. A pit suddenly opened up in Hitoshi's stomach as the boy said them, and he finally realized that, despite holding the same features as Izuku, the monster in front of them was anything but the shy boy they had talked to before. "I can always gather their brain matter, and make them whole again. Probably even better since I could make their own bodies from scratch. Oh, now that I think about it, please shoot them! It'll make it much easier."

Hitoshi swore he heard one of Cale's minions forget to breathe, and even Cale himself was unnaturally tense. Of course, Himiko took the chance to speak up, "You're not Izu!"

"Wha-" even the grey boy looked startled by her proclamation. "What are you talking about! We are too friends! I'm going to give you better bodies, and we're going to stop bad guys together! We even helped each other in taking down these mean people, so that means we're friends!"

Hitoshi felt like this was the oddest of arguments, and it wasn't helped by the fact that the two most insane people here were the ones arguing. At any other time, he might have laughed at the sheer absurdity of it.

Himiko just sneered at him like she was the one with the high ground in the conversation. "You're obviously not Izu! You don't act like him, you don't talk like him, and you look weird. And that means you're not our friend! We want our friend back!"

"I am Izuku!" The boy yelled back before punching himself in the face. His features flickered for a moment, one looking on the verge of tears while the other was a face of pure rage. "Shut up! I am Izuku! Don't think I don't know what you're trying to do Jack! You can fool me, but you can't fool me!" He turned back to Himiko, his face choosing anger to settle on. "And you look weird! If we're not friends, then I'll turn you inside out till you say we are!"

"Stupid!" Himiko yelled back. "I want Izu back! He's my friend, not you."

"I am-" Izuku glitched for a second, and Hitoshi wondered if whatever Himiko was doing was actually working. "I am Izuku! But… I don't think I want to be friends with you anymore."

"Well, I don't want to be friends with you, either!"

Izuku took one step in Himiko's direction before Hitoshi made his decision. While he had only known the boy for a short amount of time, he admitted that he wanted to know more about who Izuku really was. He was one of the first people who hadn't seemed to react badly to the mentions of his Brainwashing Quirk, and Hitoshi felt like he owed something to the shy boy for all he did.

"Crazy's right." Hitoshi started, ignoring Cale's cursing from behind him. "You're not Midoriya. You're not…" he felt his throat catch around the word, and the boy felt his eyes dip low before shooting back up to glare at the imposter before him. "Midoriya is someone who wouldn't intentionally injure someone without a second thought. He isn't someone who'd allow his friends to be shot, and he certainly isn't someone who'd lose to an idiot like you."

Izuku paused for a second, glaring over at Hitoshi. The boy thought it was all over for a second until the All Might rip-off popped, freeing the trapped Slipstream. Behind them all, the various pieces of flesh that Izuku left behind were all evaporating into red mist. Without even a moment of consideration, the hero blasted the frozen Izuku through a wall with a stream of air.

"If you're willing to surrender, we'll offer you shelter from him." Slipstream offered easily, and the subordinates behind Himiko quickly threw their weapons on the ground before running to the area the policemen ran off in.

Cale let up on his grip around Hitoshi, casually moving so that the gun was still close to the boy's head. "I think I'd like a little more than that, hero."

Hitoshi finally had freedom of his head, and looked over at the wall Izuku was sent through, finding Himiko smiling at him. He paused, "why do you look so happy? We're not out of this yet."

Her smile nearly blinded him. "You called us your friends. Hehe."

"Does anyone ever pay attention to me anymore? I'm holding a kid hostage here; isn't that a crime? Someone at least acknowledge the fact that he's under gunpoint."

"Mister Shinso, can you use your Quirk on Izuku Midoriya again? I don't think that my previous attack did anything more than inconvenience him." Slipstream asked, moving to wrap a piece of cloth near his severed ankle.

"I coul-" Hitoshi paused. He knew that his Quirk was the thing that started this whole thing, so wouldn't it serve to make things worse? For a second, Hitoshi didn't know if he wanted to take that chance. "Maybe..." he answered.

Himiko moved over to the puddle beneath the hero, dipping her fingers in it, and sucking on them. She transitioned into a mirror of Slipstream, but his appearance lacked his skintight, blue suit. She blushed a bit before clothes rippled over her form.

"Did you see anything?" She asked, and Hitoshi wanted to throw up again as Slipstream's voice really didn't match her actions.

"Yes, we saw everything! But can you see that I have your friend hostage! I could shoot him at any time! Like right now!"

"I… I am-" Izuku stumbled in through the hole in the wall, hands clutching the sides of his head. "My name… is Nicholas, no, I'm Izuku. I'm not Izuku, but I am? Stop talking Jack. Riley, stop telling me what to do. I want to be a hero. I'm-"

"I can't believe that worked!" Himiko cheered, smiling at Hitoshi like she had the best of ideas.

"Crazy don't."

"Hey, idiot!" Himiko cupped her hands around her mouth, still using Slipstream's voice. "You're not Izu, and you'll never be a hero. Izu is a hero, not you! And you-"

"Get down!" The actual Slipstream yelled, pushing them with a wave of air, and they hit the ground in time for their previous area to be covered in a mismatched blob of gray bubbles. Slipstream himself had done something, and was suddenly on the other side of the area, shooting at Izuku with his insane speed again.

"I'm Izuku…" the imposter was clutching his head again, glaring over at Himiko and Hitoshi. "My name is…"

Hitoshi sighed, knowing he was already in too deep. He honestly only saw something like this happening in anime once! Why was Himiko annoyingly right?! "The real Izuku is much more heroic than you are. He was someone who saved not only innocents, but cried for the very people trying to kill him. You're rather pathetic compared to him."

Izuku flinched at the words, allowing Slipstream had started to pummel the delirious boy into the ground with multiple blasts of wind. Izuku's body began to twist and contort as the sheer speed and angles the wind hit him at were enough to break his body. That was until a dome of those small, gray bubbles covered him, stopping the wind and allowing the boy time to repair his injuries.

"I picked you two because I thought you would handle him, but I'm beginning to question who's crazier one out of you three." Cale's voice echoed behind the Hitoshi.

Izuku continued to glare at Hitoshi and Himiko. However, his features were switching between panic and anger. Something was going on inside that head of his, and Hitoshi felt that they needed just another push to win.

The imposter walked through this cage of gray bubbles with ease, setting up another wall of gray to ward of the hero that tried to sneak in another attack. Hitoshi shared a look with Himiko long enough for Izuku to edge even closer. The purple-haired boy didn't even want to think about what Izuku was planning.

"I think you're afraid." Hitoshi started, flinching as the imposter turned to him. "You're not Izuku, and you know it. And the more that you do things that don't match up with him, the more the actual Izuku gets control. Just say it, you're not Izuku."

The fake paused, his features scrunching up. "I… I am Izuku. I want-"

In that moment, Hitoshi had only a couple seconds to use his Quirk. He knew that there was a chance that it would make everything worse again, but at the same time, he wanted to believe in the boy who stood up for everyone. Hitoshi wanted to believe in the boy who might be his friend.

"That's enough. _Midoriya, take your body back_."

For a second, the world paused. Hitoshi held his breath, and he hadn't known when Himiko changed back to her actual form to glare at the imposter. Izuku's face twisted into all sorts of emotions until another second passed.

Then Izuku flickered.

His face grew into a rictus of anger, and Hitoshi felt his heart jump into his throat. "You're right, I'm not Izuku. But I have enough time to take your damned tongue."

"Hitoshi!" Himiko yelled, tackling him to the floor fast enough that only a couple strands of blonde hair were caught in the gray bubble that suddenly appeared where Hitoshi's face once was.

"Oh, I hate it when none of my plans go right!" Cale yelled in unison as gunshots bore into Hitoshi's eardrums. He felt as if the world silenced itself for a moment, and then the sounds came trickling back faster and faster.

"Get out of here!" Slipstream's voice broke in somewhere, and the boy felt some gusts of wind nearby, signalling that the man was probably using his Quirk.

Hitoshi felt someone tugging on his arm, rushing him further from the blasts of wind. He looked up enough to see Himiko, glaring over her shoulder while dragging him away. There was a yell, Slipstream's own voice echoed out in pain. Hitoshi didn't need to turn around to know what happened.

Then, his ears finally picked up another voice. Feminine and a couple masculine ones echoing back and forth.

"Let me through!"

"Ma'am, please wait! We're supposed to wait for Recovery Girl or All Might before entering an area quarantined by-"

"I said let me see my son you idiots! He's in there, and I'm not letting him spend another moment without his mother!"

Hitoshi looked up briefly to see a woman with unkempt hair and bags around her eyes. Her cheeks were sunken, and her body looked like it hadn't had any good food for at least a couple months. However, the thing that caught his eyes were the shade of her hair and eyes.

It was enough to take a gamble. "Hey, didn't anyone say you guys are horrible at your jobs?!"

"Huh?"

"What'd you-"

"_Let her through._" Hitoshi's command rang through, and the woman looked perplexed as the policemen let her pass. She paused long enough to stare into the room long enough to nod in Hitoshi's direction.

"Izuku Midoriya!" The woman yelled, glaring over at someone. "You're grounded until you fix all the damage you did!"

Hitoshi felt that out of all the reasonings he heard today, that that one was perhaps the silliest. However, Himiko certainly found it funny enough to stop running and dragging her purple-haired companion with her. The boy looked at her like she lost the rest of her mind as her turned to see what she was laughing at.

Curiosity moved him, and Hitoshi found himself looking at the smaller, gray Izuku crying into who could only be his mother's stomach. He was repeatedly pleading her that it wasn't his fault, and would fix everything. It was only after somehow crying himself to sleep, his body reverting to his regular eleven-year old body, that Hitoshi felt some form of relief. Within a slowly crumbling parking garage full of severed limbs, growing rivers of blood, and bubbles that no one could escape, Hitoshi oddly felt a himself relax.

He sagged down into the ground beside a smiling Himiko, and felt his own scowl breaking a bit.

"You know, I still have a gun. I still haven't left my hostage, and I would rather like someone to at least acknowledge one of those facts." Cale spoke up, glaring at everyone there. Hitoshi found it rather stupid that the man hadn't run off yet.

However, instead of getting up to deal with the final nuisance, Izuku's mom gestured over to the man. In an instant, the gun that was in his hands was yanked over to her, and she began to storm over to the mastermind behind everything. In one hand was a sleeping Izuku, curled up into her side while the other crushed the pistol to pieces.

Cale blinked. "Can we talk this out?"

The woman didn't respond, and simply walked up to the man. Without a second for him to retaliate, Izuku's mom slammed the mother of all haymakers into the man's jaw. His feet left the ground long enough that Hitoshi wondered if there would be a record for that kind of thing. He certainly saw at least one tooth fly out of the man's mouth.

"Don't you dare touch my baby again." Mrs Midoriya whispered to the downed man.

Hitoshi felt that he learned two things that day: Izuku Midoriya was probably what he called a friend, and that the boy was also a mama's boy. And he really didn't know what scared him more.

* * *

_Well, this took awhile. Class problems came up, and well, they'll probably stop me from writing frequently... Anyways, this is the end of the longish time spent under being "kidnapped". There is some reasoning being put here and there in this chapter, and a couple things mentioned. Personally, I felt that there wasn't enough violence. The chapter was already long, though. _

_Anyways, the aftermath of everything happening will be kinda outlined in the next chapter, but its more to finally give insight into Cale. It's one of the things that I have thought about quite a bit. However, that doesn't mean its without plot holes. Hopefully, some might be fixed. _

_Next chapter: Interlude 2: Reasons and Ransoms_

_As always, Enjoy!_


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: **I do not own My Hero Academia, nor Worm. Those belong to Kohei Hirokoshi and Wildbow respectively.

* * *

Lighter(1)

Izuku groaned, shifting under the thin sheets as a chill brought him closer to wakefulness. In a second, he felt his need for sleep leave him, and then realized how cold it was. A soft wind crept between his blankets, forcing him to either dig further into the cloth or deal with it.

With a sigh, Izuku opened his eyes to his hospital room. Oddly, he noticed the bleached white walls seemed a little brighter than he last remembered, and he wasn't overwhelmed by the citrus that clung to the place anymore. He knew that nothing changed, but everything felt a bit different.

Light was filtering through the slightly open window nearby, illuminating the room a bit more than the dim lights above. Izuku's bed creaked as he sat up, and the boy was greeted to the sight of Hitoshi sitting across from him on one of the uncomfortable chairs scattered around the edges of the room.

For a second, Izuku didn't know what to do. He had always woke to an empty room in an empty apartment, and had to force himself to get to school sometimes. Every since his mother fell into her coma, Izuku had never thought he would have someone wake him. Other than the voices in head, of course, but they weren't the best company.

However, Izuku's inner turmoil barely seemed to bother the purple-haired boy as he calmly turned the page of the book he was reading. Slowly, Izuku seemed to shake out of the shock that settled into him as the crisp sound of paper brushing against paper met his ears. Izuku leaned a bit more out of his hospital bed, curiously taking a peek at Hitoshi's book of choice.

He only caught a glance at the words 'mental disorders' before Hitoshi closed the book, placing it behind him. Izuku jumped as his gaze shot back to Hitoshi, and found that the boy was also looking at him.

Anxiety and nerves finally caught up with Izuku. He didn't have a dangerous situation forcing him into talking, and after he lost control, he hadn't expected Hitoshi to ever be in the same room as him. The incident was only a few days ago, so Izuku was sure that Hitoshi couldn't have forgotten about it.

As such, the silence in the room was only broken after Hitoshi cleared his throat. "Good morning."

"O- oh…" Izuku forced himself not to fall into nervous stutters. Even the ever annoying voices of the Nine were inconsequential to the matter at hand. "Good morning… I never thought- I mean, how are you?"

"As good as I can be." Hitoshi said, quirking an eyebrow at Izuku before pointing to his own wrists. "More importantly, are those necessary?"

Izuku looked down, pulling his arms up in confusion. Cold metal met his wrists, rattling as the chains that tied him to his hospital bed shifted with his movement. "Oh these." He dumbly pointed out.

Hitoshi sighed, pressing his thumb and pointer finger against his eyelids. "Yes, those. Are you being arrested?"

"No," Izuku said, watching as Hitoshi released a heavy breath. "Or, I don't think so. I just wanted these for… s- safety."

"I doubt they'd stop you."

Izuku flinched at Hitoshi's words, looking away. He had personally asked for them to handcuff him, but the officers really didn't want to do it. It took the boy simply taking one of the officer's handcuffs to actually do it himself. Though, the boy didn't blame them when they jumped or flinched at his movements. He had dismembered several people only a few days ago, and then just recently went to work to putting them back together.

Hitoshi's words only brought up bad memories. This was the second time he had every remembered one of his rampages so clearly, and the whole situation was one of the worst. Unknowingly, Izuku dragged the room back into silence.

Something that Hitoshi broke once again. "I didn't mean it that way, Midoriya… I just-"

Izuku looked back to the purple haired boy, watching his face contort from frowning to grimacing. He didn't say anything, but Izuku felt that Hitoshi was dealing with his own degree of unfamiliarity.

"Look, I came here to say I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Izuku parroted.

"Yeah, I'm-" Hitoshi sighed again, running a hand through his hair. "I was unnecessarily mean to you back when we were… back there. You reminded me of people who just had a powerful Quirk, and then were all annoying about it, so I…" Hitoshi frowned. "I wanted to apologize. You have your own problems that I didn't notice."

Izuku blinked, incredulous. "W- wait! You don't have to apologize! I should be the one to do that after I… after I put you through what I did."

"Are you an idiot?"

Izuku flinched again. "Wha-"

"You don't need to apologize for that." Hitoshi scoffed, as if the idea was funny to him. "That wasn't you, so I should be the one to apologize. I forced you to be at the front of the danger, but I could have made some of those other people do it."

"That wouldn't be nice…"

"No it wouldn't. But... they didn't even try to help."

"Still… I should at least say sorry."

Hitoshi frowned, looking over to the door as if it would burst open. "I really should have waited for her… I'm not good at this."

Before Izuku could ask what Hitoshi meant by that, voices filtered in from the outside. The sounds trickled into the room through the wooden door as Izuku heard the monotonous clank of crutches stop outside.

Just as he was beginning to worry, the door cracked open just enough for ashy blonde hair to tumble through. Himiko poked her head into the room, yellow eyes roving around the room till they found Hitoshi.

"Psst! Hey, hey, grump-grouchy-Hito, is Izu awake yet?" She whispered.

"How is that even a nickname…" Hitoshi grumbled, nodding his head in Izuku's direction. "And he's already awake. Just get in here, and look yourself."

Himiko leaned into the room further, craning her neck to find Izuku staring at her. In a second, her face split into a dazzling smile. "Izu! I was wondering when you were going to wake up; grumpy-Hitoshi doesn't really understand these things, so he's been waiting here since six!"

Her eyes found the handcuffs a second later, and her smile froze for a second. Izuku was about to say something till she slowly entered the room, walking over to Hitoshi to sit idly by his side. The two boys didn't really know what to say about this sudden change until Himiko frowned over to Izuku.

"Are you getting arrested?" She asked.

"He's not." A voice spoke from the hallway, causing Hitoshi and Izuku to turn to a blue suited hero standing within the doorway. A small breeze shifted the cold around the room as he limped forwards, and tucked under his armpits were crutches while his left foot was in a cast. "The boy asked to be handcuffed himself, and stole a pair of them to do it after he reattached my foot." Slipstream nodded to Izuku. "Thank you for that, by the way."

"S- Slipstream!" Izuku sat up straighter. Guilt was eating his insides from how Hitoshi and Himiko were acting, but seeing the very hero he maimed was slowly breaking the boy from whatever calm he had.

Himiko mirrored Hitoshi's frown, turning to the hero. "Why would you let Izu do that? Are you getting back at him for beating you?"

"Himiko you shouldn't say something like-"

"Midoriya, let Toga talk." Hitoshi cut Izuku off, frowning at the hero. "I also want to ask why you would know Midoriya did what he did, and you just let him. That's not very heroic if you ask me."

For the first time since Izuku met him, Slipstream looked a bit unsure. "That is… not the case, I assure you. It was not my intention to isolate mister Midoriya, but I wanted to respect his decision to take precautions into his own hands. If he had gone on another rampage-"

"But he wouldn't." Himiko said, noticing Izuku wince as the man kept talking. "We'd make sure of it, so you're being stupid."

"Young lady, I think you're being a bit rude here." Slipstream started, standing straighter despite his injuries. "Need I remind you that I found you walking in the villain-containment area of the hospital; with the charges of using your Quirk illegally, you're looking at a very serious mark on your record."

Izuku stifled a smile at Himiko sticking her tongue at the hero, focusing on the fact that Slipstream had turned towards him. He felt something familiar when looking at those deep, brown eyes, but the boy couldn't place his finger on it. Instead, he found guilt beginning to creep along his thoughts as he looked at the hero's injuries.

The hero cleared his throat. "Sorry, we got a little sidetracked. I originally came to thank you, mister Midoriya. Without you, I would have had to consider a prosthetic, and that would have cut down on the effectiveness of my Quirk fairly easily."

"You don't need to thank me! It was… my fault in the first place."

"That may be." Slipstream agreed, causing the boy to wince at how harsh those words were against his ears. "However, fixing your mistakes is a good first step."

Hitoshi frowned, glancing over at Izuku for a second. "Yeah, good life advice and all, but what was your Quirk again? How would a prosthetic cause problems?"

"My Quirk?" The hero repeated, allowing the blatant attempt at changing the subject. "If you must know, its called 'Hurricane Skin'. I have a thin, skintight layer of wind that rotates around my body, but its speed can increase to well above a couple hundred miles per hour. Or is it kilometers here? No matter, the currents of wind, and publicly named 'wind blasts' are all different applications of it."

"What a great power…" Hitoshi said. "And before you leave, I have another thing to ask you."

Slipstream frowned. "You say that as if you're kicking me out."

"Are you going to stay?"

"Very well, what do you want to ask?"

"Right, I want to know how you knew what my powers were."

Himiko leaned closer to the hero, as if she would have missed the answer from her position. Izuku idly wondered what those two had against the hero. Sure, the man was a jerk, but they looked at him as if he were a criminal. The green-haired boy felt that they should at least give him a chance.

"I read it in the police report for missing children and teens." Slipstream answered. "They had a file for the Quirks of the abducted, just in case. And I can see how you three want to be left alone, so I'll take my leave." The man turned back to Izuku, offering a nod. "If you get your Quirk under control, I'll offer a mentorship program in American. Should you want it."

Izuku smiled tiredly at the hero. There was no chance in hell he would accept that offer; the hero may have been powerful, but he was everything Izuku really didn't like. Still, he couldn't just insult the man to his face. The boy endured till the sounds of crutches echoing in the hallways was only faint on her ears.

"I don't like him." Himiko stated first.

Hitoshi hummed, thinking over something. For a second, Izuku was going along with their motions. Then, he realized that they weren't leaving.

There was a small moment of panic as that fact settled in. He wondered why they were there, why they hadn't simply forgotten about him as soon as he lost his mind, and most of all, the boy wondered just what reason drove them to trying to find him.

Himiko broke into another smile, directing her attention back to Izuku. "Oh yeah, I wanted to ask what you have been up to lately! They wouldn't let us out till recently, and we had a lot of people check us for some… stuff? They called us po- potent biolizards. Hey, Hito-grumpy-shi what was the word?"

Hitoshi sighed as Izuku broke into a faint smile at Himiko's antics. "Potential biohazards. Don't act like you didn't pay attention to what they said, too. You're smarter than that annoying act you pull."

"Aww!" Himiko cheered. "Hear that Izu, Hitoshi thinks I'm smart!"

"I said you're smarter than you look, not smart. Besides, why'd that jerk catch you in the villain-containment area? What were you even doing in there?"

Himiko grinned, showing her incisors. "Hehe, I was going to go kick that bad guy while he was handcuffed to his bed." She wriggled the leg that had previously been shot. "I'll show him that my leg is perfectly fine!"

Izuku blinked at the notion. He honestly wanted to ask who in their right mind would go harass villains while they were down, but the fact that Himiko was caught in the villain section just made him question her already questionable sanity.

Hitoshi shared in this thought process, digging his fingers into his temples as if trying to understand her hurt him. "Please don't tell me you went and kicked Ca- that guy. Please tell me you're not crazy enough to do that."

"I didn't, geez!" Himiko pouted. "There was like a ton of nurses and doctors there saying something about a 'overdose' or whatever, so I couldn't find my chance."

"I don't know whether to praise you for not going on with your crazy plan, or to continue to ask why you thought that was a good idea…"

Himiko stuck her tongue out, ignoring Hitoshi while turning to Izuku. "Hey, you've been pretty quiet, Izu. Is something wrong?"

"I- I uh…" Izuku felt his words stuck in his throat. He couldn't keep up with the situation, and the fact that Himiko and Hitoshi hadn't called him a monster or run away was something he had never expected. Eventually, he got enough of his emotions under control to shut his eyes closed, tightly holding his eyelids together as if afraid to see their reactions. "Why are you guys here? I did… I caused so much damage, and hurt so many people."

Himiko paused for a second, turning to Hitoshi with a frown. The purple-haired boy just held his hands up in surrender, and made his face mirror hers. Without speaking, he motioned over to Izuku, silently conveying something.

The blonde turned to Izuku, her face suddenly more serious than ever before. "Izuku," she started, grabbing the boy's attention with her shaky tone. It was like she wasn't sure of the response as well. "We're your friends, aren't we? I mean, Hitoshi doesn't know how to act either, so he's kinda being a clingy, but he's still your friend. I'm your friend, too. You gave me your blood, after all."

Hitoshi sighed, muttering something. "... what did I even expect? I guess, it'll do, but…"

"Friends?" Izuku tasted the word. The concept he once knew was nothing like what was in front of him.

There was a blonde boy in his memories, but Izuku couldn't remember his name after struggling for so long. In his head, there was Jack. While the man said they were friends, Izuku was sure that Jack saw no one as his friend. However, the word was still said between them. A confirmation of their nonexistent relationship.

Now, though, that word was being tossed around here. Izuku could hardly believe it. That such a notion would be so easy to think about.

Perhaps, it was his years of social isolation that started his disbelief. Or maybe it was the fear that the adults around him radiated in their actions, his crushing guilt whenever his hero came to try and help, or the horror he felt whenever the Nine spoke. Izuku could never draw out a singular reason, but he felt that getting his hopes up should have been harder.

Then, the door opened, halting his thoughts. There was a skinny man and a woman in the doorway. They appeared to be talking about something, but the boy only caught the word 'possible employment' and 'All Might' before the woman's eyes found him.

She looked haggard. A complete opposite to Izuku, yet her eyes still betrayed a strength that was beyond him. And then there was her smile. The very same smile that broke through his restraints, and allowed him to regain control.

It was such a simple thing he missed so dearly.

"I heard you finished treating everyone yesterday. They shouldn't have kept you this long, so Mr. Toshinori and I were just about to get you." His mother said, looking around the room to find Himiko and Hitoshi. If there was something different about her, then Izuku would say that there was a slight pause in her actions. As if she was trying to figure out what to say again. "Oh sorry, did I interrupt your talk with your friends?"

"No, they…" Izuku trailed off, his eyes finding Hitoshi and Himiko. They both looked a little bit reluctant to speak. As if they were waiting for something.

A wait that was cut short as Izuku found his words. "No, m- mom, my friends and I were just talking; you didn't interrupt."

And seconds later, Izuku found his smile. It was one that mirrored his friend's own.

* * *

_A shorter chapter than I originally had planed, but I changed the idea from a prologue in someone else's eyes to something I felt should happen. I would also like to apologize to the people who thought I was getting rid of the interlude before this chapter; originally, I had Cale's interlude, but I came to the decision that it was better with him not being a reocurring villain. He was too inconsistent of a character, and I mainly had him around for one scene in particular. Of course, things will be set in motion differently with his removal, so I gotta check some of my notes. _

_On another note, this chapter is, what I feel, a good tie in to the tone and focus of the next series of chapters. Build up on the relations I have neglected, and give Izuku some good power of FRIENDSHIP up until my edgy teenage writer comes out. When that happens... Good lord, some of the things I have planned that I just want to get to._

_Edit: Hagrid was not intentional... haha_

_Anyways, for those who don't wanna read all that, keep these in mind: _

_1\. Cale is no longer a reoccurring villain_

_2\. This chapter was originally Cale's interlude, but its not anymore_

_3\. The author has his shit together (he says, but he also lies)_

_4\. Expect a little less existential dread, however, there might be a smidge_

_To those who read the deleted interlude, and remember some things: please try not to spoil for those who didn't. Unless it's one specific detail, but I doubt people will think I'm that blatant(or they might, I overestimate myself on a daily), so yeah..._

_Next chapter: Izuku has quality time_

_As always, Enjoy!_


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: **I do not own My Hero Academia, nor Worm. Those belong to Kohei Hirokoshi and Wildbow respectively.

* * *

Lighter(2)

Distorted sound spurred Izuku. He was used to resting in a quiet apartment, free of any human disturbance bar the ones in his head. However, someone was talking nearby.

No, Izuku corrected himself as sleep left him, someone was yelling nearby. And angrily at that.

He rolled in his futon, eyeing the All Might alarm clock. 5:27, it said in blocky digits. A little over an hour before he would have woken up.

"...hear me! I've told you for the last time: this is All Might's secretarial number. If you don't have a problem for All Might, then stop calling here!"

Izuku winced at the feminie voice. He craned his neck over to his door, a signed poster of some hero hung there. Honestly, the boy had almost forgotten when he got it.

However, that problem barely registered in his head. With the commotion, a few stirred in the back of his skull, and Izuku was tempted to pull on Riley in case there was any problems he missed.

He had already seen the ones he caused.

Shifting to the edge of his bed, Izuku wondered what to do. His eyes unknowingly trailed back to the door, a choice at the tip of his thoughts.

Sleep had left him long ago, and he wondered whether he should just wait till the time he should've woken or walk out his door to face the problem. It was a tough decision. Things concerning his mother were… delicate, at best.

She had been getting better after her long coma, and All Might himself had even offered her a job to get her back on her feet. It was just supposed to be a simple position of signing papers and legal documents that allowed the number one hero to travel the world to look for problems. The job should have been easy, completely stress free.

"... I don't care how black his tongue is! I'm not letting my son go examine a drug addict because you can't solve things yourself! And for the last time: stop calling this number!"

Izuku winced at her increasing volume. He knew she probably didn't even notice as her emotions ran out of control, but it wasn't like he could cut her open and try to fix her. At least, he wasn't sure he could do that without giving Riley something in return.

However, before the boy could come to a decision, his door creaked open just enough for his mother's head to poke through. Green hair fell over her shoulders, and styled into a bun that sat tightly on the back of her head. Her body was forever slim, strengthened from every little improvement Izuku had squeezed into her body in hopes that it would help her. She was no longer looking like a weak and frail woman, yet even without the bags under her eyes, Izuku could still see traces of exhaustion along her features.

And her green eyes only flinched as they made contact with Izuku's own.

"Oh, did I… wake you?"

"No, I was just getting up." Izuku hurried to a lie, stretching to get out of bed. He debated on pulling Ned's Quirk to deal with the little aches and pains faster, but felt like that might have an adverse reaction on his mom's state.

His mother paused for a second, shuffling a little at the doorway. "That's good… Are Shinso and Toga coming to get you today as well?"

Izuku nodded, breaking eye contact to look through his drawers. "Himiko doesn't have class today, and Hitoshi and I need to get ready for middle school soon…"

"Oh, right you're twelve already… time does go by fast. Do you want me to make you anything? A bento, before you go?"

"No, I can-" he cut himself off, finding an All Might figurine stuck at the back of the drawer he opened. "Maybe just a little one, please?"

Izuku didn't need to turn to know that there was a smile on her face. She wanted an excuse to help him like she always did; to baby him for the times that she missed. It was enough to bridge the gap that separated them.

Yet, it always felt like a weak bridge, ready to crumble at any moment.

His mother left, happily humming a tune that Izuku had long forgotten. He recognized some of the notes, but most of it was a blur. Just another detail he had forgotten.

Quickly, he put on his clothes, getting ready for the day a couple minutes later. He pulled out the phone his mom gave him a while ago and quickly messaged his friends. They we're supposed to meet so soon, but he didn't want to stay too long.

However, that's not because he didn't love his mother. There was nothing more he could have asked for when she was finally awake, but his expectations were drowned out by a wave known as reality.

He had expected everything to be fixed when she woke. Instead, she was not the same. He was not the same. And both of those facts were slowly driving a wedge in between them faster than the boy knew what to do about. It was like trying to hold water with a bucket with a hole at the bottom.

He had noticed her escalating emotions a month into their reunion. A side effect from whatever leftover berserker-induced state she had previously been in. The release of hormones involved was too ingrained into her system, like a drug addict who just needed another fix. Izuku had looked into trying to stop them entirely, but doing so might send her into shock or back into her coma again.

And all Riley said to help was to completely restructure his mom's brain.

When he heard that, Izuku wasn't sure what to think. It was another piece of guilt that was only softened by the fact that his mother was awake now. He couldn't risk messing up the procedure when she was fine. There was too much on the line.

So, instead of voicing his concerns, Izuku held it in. Practiced a smile, and fixed his hair in the mirror. Only when he was sure that the mask was set did he walk out of his room.

Their living room was small. Not small enough for the two of them to be cramped, but not enough for much company to stay. It was blocky and rectangular, with a large couch sitting in front of a television and coffee table. There were a couple windows that let in the morning light, illuminating the dreary room enough for Izuku to squint a bit to see everything. Cool carpet rubbed underfoot, and Izuku paused for just a second to realize how messy everything there was.

The cushions on the couch were in disarray, and one of them looked like they had been thrown across the room. Some papers were stacked besides an open laptop while the rest looked like a stack had fallen over and scattered over the rest of the table and the floor nearby. A phone was buzzing underneath a couple of papers, shining a bit of light through the thin sheets as it vibrated.

Izuku sighed at the scene. It was familiar, yet new. Just another thing that he didn't expect.

He ignored the phone for a second, following the sounds of humming to the nearby kitchen. It was almost like someone had cut out a smaller rectangular portion of the living room, separating them by only a waist-height wall with smooth, stone countertop. There was a walkway on one side of the separating countertop near the far wall, linking to the two rooms together.

Izuku found his mom happily cooking something on the stove that sat at the back of the kitchen, far away from the living room. The smells of sizzling meat and fresh vegetables entered his nose, and the boy tried to hold his face together. All of the smells were things he had liked when he was a kid.

But, Izuku didn't complain. He was asking for too much; something in the back of his head told him should shouldn't be too greedy, considering the circumstances. However, Izuku didn't want to find out if that was his own thoughts or not.

Choosing to distract himself, Izuku turned to the continually vibrating phone. He didn't know whether his mom heard it or not, so he shifted the papers off. Reading the caller's name, the boy quickly hit cancel. There was little doubt in his mind that his mom needed to answer someone named 'asshole'.

"Izuku, I made some breakfast as well, do you want to come and eat before you leave?"

Izuku winced as he heard the yell from so close. "I'm already here, mom…"

"Oh!" Green eyes widened as they found Izuku, placing down a bowl of steaming rice and meat. She tried to form a smile, but Izuku could see it visibly failing. He had seen it enough to know where the almost imperceptible faults were. "I didn't see you there. When did you become so quiet?"

"Sorry…" Izuku silently took in the warmth of his food, fingers curling around the bowl. "I didn't want to annoy you."

His mom smiled again. "You don't annoy me, Izuku. Why would you even get that idea?"

"How late were you up?" Izuku asked instead, looking over to the knocked over papers.

She flinched, not answering verbally. However, the boy could guess the answer.

"You shouldn't do that; you probably could stay awake for a week if you wanted to, but your body still needs rest."

"I'm glad you're worrying about me, Izuku, but I think I know my body best."

No you don't, Izuku wanted to say. There was so much he wanted to say, but he chose to stop that line of thought. It had only been a couple months since she was back, and he didn't want to lose her again. He could only wear his smile.

However, before he needed to say something, he heard a couple knocks on the door. He took the chance to escape, and moved to answer it.

"That must be your friends- oh wait! Izuku, come give me a hug before you go!" His mom quickly moved around the countertop, walking with a grace that belied her sleepless night. Her arms were spread apart, inviting. It was an action Izuku numbly accepted, trying to remember the warmth from his food before.

Because his mom was colder than he last remembered.

"I love you."

"I love you, too... mom." Izuku said, knowing that of all the lies he said, this wasn't one of them. And he hoped that would stay the same.

* * *

"You're much quieter than usual." Hitoshi's voice shook Izuku from his thoughts.

Izuku looked over to his purple-haired friend, finding Hitoshi's eyes boring into his own. "I'm just thinking over… things."

"You don't look like you're thinking over things." Himiko chimed in, leaning over to put her head between the two as they all walked. She had been fiddling with something every since they left Izuku's apartment.

They had met up earlier than expected, so the streets were quieter than usual. Only a few joggers or dog-walkers were even up at this time, and since it was a Sunday, there were probably more kids their age asleep than anything. Even if more small restaurants and shops lined the streets, there were still some apartment buildings that lined the small block.

It was a small district close to Musutafu that Izuku had moved to with his awakened mom. Something about being closer to their original home, but the details didn't really make much sense. All that mattered was that Himiko and Hitoshi were only a couple of train stops away.

And maybe the decreased police presence around him, too.

"Is it your Quirk again?" Hitoshi cut into Izuku's thoughts again, pulling out a notebook from the backpack he carried. On the cover was the title 'The Nine'. "Recently you have been using them more often, so it could be influencing you in some way. Do you feel any more…" Izuku could see Hitoshi struggling with the word.

"Murderous!" Himiko chimed in.

The purple-haired boy scowled. "Not those exact words…"

"No, no, my Quirk is fine!" Izuku hurriedly said. If he let the two of them try to puzzle out anything, Izuku felt that they'd get the wrong idea. "It's just… my mom. I thought everything would be fixed after she woke up, but… I don't know. It's complicated."

"Oh…" Himiko stepped passed the two of them, turning her back to where they were facing and backpedaling to keep in front of them. "Does she keep putting unnecessary ideals on you, and then being annoyed when you don't make them?"

"No? I don't know… Maybe?"

"Well, maybe you need to find a way to release your stress? Like maybe…" Himiko paused for a second, looking both ways down the empty street before dragging to two of them into a nearby alleyway.

Izuku looked over to Hitoshi, seeing the other boy's resigned expression. They could probably overpower Himiko when she got into one of her moods, but it was much easier for the lazier purple-haired boy to just let her get whatever she wanted to say out.

However, Izuku began to get a little nervous as he saw the state of the alley change from slightly-well-maintained to something less than ideal. The bricks were darkened with splotches dotting their exterior. Chips of wear and tear had covered some of the walls and concrete of the alleyway, and Izuku had to crinkle his nose at the bags of trash nearby. Some of their contents were even spread out over the alleyway that stretched between the two buildings.

Himiko nodded at their secure location, fumbling around with her pockets before pulling out something. Izuku took a second to realize what it was, but Hitoshi had jumped at her as soon as he saw it.

"Why do you have a knife?!" He hissed, glaring at her. His hand was clamped around her wrist like some iron vice so that the box cutter was pointed away from them.

"Come on, grumpy-wumpy, its not even that big!" Himiko whined, not really trying to shake Hitoshi from his grip.

Hitoshi's scowl was deeper now, less friendly… or as friendly as a scowl can get. "That's not what I mean, Himiko. Why do you even have a knife? What possessed you to get something so dangerous?"

"Hitoshi's right, Himiko." Izuku echoed, feeling bad as the girl flinched at the gazes of the two of them.

"Okay, okay! I get it." She pouted. "But, it's not that dangerous. I've been studying how to use knives, and other stuff."

"That doesn't make it any better?" Hitoshi said, releasing her. "Did your parents even allow you to get it?" Himiko didn't meet his eyes, kicking a more interesting piece of trash that floated nearby. Hitoshi sighed. "Of course… I should have guessed."

"Maybe we're being too hard on her, Hitoshi?" Izuku tried, seeing Himiko flash a smile at him.

"Too hard?" Hitoshi's voice lowered an octave. "This is not a small thing, Izuku." He frowned over to Himiko's hands. "We're trying to be heroes, and we are already charged with obstructing justice. Not to mention that video that has me…"

"Sorry, Hitoshi." Himiko said, holding out the small box cutter.

Hitoshi scowled at the hand before pushing the knife back to her. "Keep it… Just don't pull it out so easily. I get enough from that video going around."

"We didn't know that anyone was nearby, Hitoshi." Izuku said, trying to mediate the tense atmosphere. "Besides, just because your school saw you riding the transformed Himiko doesn't mean the middle school will."

Hitoshi sighed. "I guess you're right… At least everyone thinks you two were just monsters instead of… you both." He sighed again, turning back to Himiko. "Alright, sorry about blowing up on you. Can you just tell us why you brought us here, and why you thought it was a good idea to get a knife?"

"Well," Himiko brightened once more, flashing a toothy smile as if they never argued a moment ago. "I've been thinking-"

"Shocking."

"Quiet, grumpy-toshi! Anyways, Izu said that he only became better at his Quirk when we were captured, so I thought that we should go out and fight crime! We could stab all the villains and beat up all the bad guys!" Himiko smiled, putting her hands on her hips as if she had just solved everyone's problems. "Plus! If people start videoing us, then Mister forever-scowl might get his name cleared from being a monster-wielding villain. That's like… five things in one."

"Why do I get the feeling that you're missing the point of what a hero means…" Hitoshi grumbled, shaking his head. "And also, you're suggesting that we become vigilantes. An illegal occupation, I should add. Not to mention the fact that I'm fairly sure Midoriya's Quirk is not about fighting more bad guys till it becomes more usable."

"Come on, don't be boring!"

"I'm not being boring, I'm being reasonable. There's plenty of studies that show how Quirks are affected by a person's mental and physical health. Throwing Izuku in dangerous situations might make things worse."

"Well, it's not your decision anyways!"

"That's not a decision in the first place, then!"

"Guys!" Izuku cut in, silencing them before they could get into a further argument. "I- I think Hitoshi is right on this one. It's too dangerous for you two, and being a vigilante is illegal… And I'm still having to go to therapy, so they might catch something…"

"I forgot about that…" Himiko said, not really taking back her words.

Hitoshi looked over to Izuku. "You talked about that before. You were worried about someone, I think. Are they trustworthy?"

The green-haired boy flinched, remembering another fake smile. "I think so. If anything happens, then I'm better at using my Quirk now, so I should be able to hold them off for fifteen minutes or so. All Might said he'd be there if I made enough of noise..."

"Yes, but then you'd be a sitting duck for anyone who can last that long." Hitoshi added. "And while even one of those… people are strong, you still can only use one of them. What if they can counter you?"

Himiko slapped Hitoshi on the back. "Stop your worrying, grump-stump."

"You can't make that nickname when I'm taller than you."

"Yeah, yeah, grow up big and strong…" Himiko said, watching as Hitoshi scowled. She then turned back to Izuku. "What I think he meant to ask was if you were worried about something? You know we'd help you."

"I know." Izuku whispered, trying to hide the wide smile on his face. "I'm just worried about the other man who's always in the room as well. Remember that skinny, blonde guy who was in the hospital room before we were released? I just… feel that he's pushing his work onto my mom, and it's stressing her out. They both work with All Might's papers, but I just see so many my mom has, and..." Izuku sighed, dropping the subject. "Then, he's also watching me closely every time I see him. It's just…"

"Suspicious!" Himiko added.

Izuku nodded. "Yeah, he reminds me of someone who's hiding something."

"Like Slipstream." Hitoshi added.

"He could have been hiding something because we weren't ready maybe?" Izuku tried, getting a shake of the head from even Himiko.

"But he definitely lied when he told us where he found boring-grumpty-dumpty's information from. This is so annoying." Himiko whined. "Why can't the villains just come out, monologue their reasons and wait to get their butts kicked? That'd be so much easier than trying to figure out who's being shifty…"

"For once, I agree with you." Hitoshi sighed, pausing to look up and around their alleyway. "By the way, where are we?"

Himiko shrugged. "Dunno. I just dragged you guys till I felt it was far enough from the road."

Hitoshi's palm met his face. "You do realize the news said there was a rise in villain attacks in this area, right? Or was this all part of your plan?"

The ashy blonde didn't meet her friend's gaze, choosing to admire the trash tumbling in the slight wind nearby. Izuku could see a little bit of annoyance rising from his purple-haired friend. "It's okay, Hitoshi, we can easily find our way."

"Yeah! Listen to Izu!" Himiko cheered, pointing down the alley to a much darker corner. It was as foreboding as any potential spot for homicide would be. "I have a feeling that the exit is that way!"

Before the two boys could do anything, Himiko was already skipping down the alley, humming a tune out of key. Hitoshi and Izuku shared a look. One looked exasperated while the other found the girl's antics to be amusing. However, they both agreed on one thing.

"We need to talk to her about her… preferences." Hitoshi started, easily falling into step beside Izuku. They weren't worried too much about Himiko; she could easily take care of herself.

Izuku nodded, peering around the corner to find Himiko waving from the next intersection of alleys. "Don't worry, we'll bring it up to her slowly. Himiko is nicer than she appears; she won't actually hurt anyone... that bad."

As if on cue, there was a scream that echoed into the alleyway. The two paused as the scream wasn't feminine, but male. And sounding more frightened than anything.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to rob you!"

Izuku laughed a little nervously before picking up his pace. He barely caught the words Hitoshi said before he turned to help out whatever poor soul Himiko had found to bully. "...I swear, if helping her involves the power of friendship or love, I'm going to have to rethink my life choices…"

* * *

_Well, I had planned for this to come monday or this weekend... Just, life hit hard. Hard enough that I might have to slow down my already slow update speed. I'd like to apologize in advance for that, but I need to get ahead in my classes again. Should my update speed tank, there's your reason. _

_As for the chapter, this is mainly setup. Things are being explained, and there are bits and pieces that should give you an idea where things are going. Soon... soon..._

_Next Chapter: (Dunno if I should keep doing this next chapter stuff... idk.) Izuku talks about his problems and heals the sick_

_As always, Enjoy!_


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: **I do not own My Hero Academia, nor Worm. Those belong to Kohei Hirokoshi and Wildbow respectively.

* * *

Lighter(3)

Walking into the room, Izuku paused to study every corner of the place. The walls were barren, recently cleaned of any and all picture frames or memorabilia. A couple of fixtures still dotted the room, though. One desk with a moderate amount of papers, and two chairs sat in front of it, cushioned with dark red leather. Izuku knew from experience that they were bolted down to the so that it would take a Quirk strong enough break the concrete flooring to remove them. It was a place that tried to maintain an image of being as non-threatening as possible; there were no spaces for anyone to hide.

Especially for the two men in suits who were in the room before he entered. One was an older man, greying hair salting his original black here and there. His face was neutral and as plain as they come, broken only by some sunspots and wrinkles that creased around his eyes as well as the corners of his lips.

Izuku saw that the old man made no move as he entered; just slowly turned his head and displayed his empty palms as if to prove that he wasn't a threat. The green-haired boy knew the man wasn't. His new therapist, Stefano Mariani, was someone who was pulled directly from Italy's hero support department in order to help him after their mistake with his last one. Izuku had already gotten to know the older man; even seen the rather unimpressive light-production Quirk Stefano had shown.

The man was no threat.

At least, Izuku knew he could handle most attacks the older gentleman tried, if he chose to do so. In the end, it wasn't a complete trust, but more of a trust in himself that allowed Izuku to relax into the leather seat across from the man.

However, it was the other man in the room that set Izuku's hackles arise. A bone-thin man who looked as if the wind would easily knock over at any given moment. His eyes were sunken so much that the only thing visible, other than the shadows concealing them, were the bright, blue pupils that stared out from within seemingly empty sockets.

Two long strands of blonde framed the man's face, drawing Izuku to the fact that he was breathing a little heavily. His clothes disheveled as if he just ran there at the last minute. It said something about how much the man wanted to be there, and that only drew Izuku to being more aware of his presence.

"Good afternoon, mister Midoriya." Stefano said, taking a moment for Izuku to settle in his chair.

Slowly, the boy put the skinny man out of mind. He could still see the blonde in the corner of his eye, but he wasn't important at the moment. Izuku needed to get better; if not for his sake, then for everyone else's.

"Good afternoon."

The old man nodded, offering a deliberate smile. "I don't want to take up too much of your time, so let's start off where we left off last time. Would that be okay?"

Izuku nodded, letting the man speak again. The smooth baritone was offset by the man's accent, jarring a bit of his fluent Japanese. "Great. You mentioned how you were feeling much better these days. Your relationships were fulfilling… and you now have a much greater sway over your Quirk. Though you've mentioned that you were on the fence about a couple things, too."

"Ye- yes." Izuku stuttered, wincing at the nervous tick. He might have exaggerated some things, but most were true. "I've been able to control more of the Nine now, and… I just feel that I can do it. Be a hero, I mean."

The skinny blonde choked on something in the corner, turning away from the duo. Izuku and Stefano both looked over at the man. "Could we help you… mister Yagi?"

"No, no!" he waved, frantically schooling his features from an emotion Izuku missed. "I'm just here to watch! Send the message. All Might should be here in a second should anything happen."

"Then let's hope he shouldn't need to appear." Stefano replied, turning back to Izuku. "Now, your desire to be a hero… have you thought of what you want, both long and short term, to achieve this?"

"Well," Izuku faltered a bit, his eyes wandered around the room while his fingers twirled in his lap. "I think being a hero could help a lot of people, and Hitoshi wants to do it, too. Himiko is a little iffy, but I'm sure she has her heart in the right place. It's just…" he paused, finding his words harder to say by the second. "I don't know if I'm going about this right?"

"Mister Midoriya," Izuku's head craned up to see his therapist looking at him. "I said this when we first met: I cannot speak for whatever decision you make; those are yours alone. Sure, I will offer advice here and there, but I cannot make you do anything. Just like now, you say you want to be a hero, yet I can ask: does being a professional hero help you achieve your goals? If you want to help people, then being a doctor can be a good line of work for you. I've been told you have been volunteering at the hospital with the help of Recovery Girl. Though, should you still desire that being a hero is what you want, I will advise you that guilt is sometimes the poison of motivators."

Taking a moment, Izuku caught onto just what the man was talking about. His guilt; the deaths that he could have prevented. "...It's not them." Izuku said, but so low that people would have to lean in to hear it. "I… I don't want to be a doctor, either. These powers," he looked down at his hands. "These people in my head. They're mine for a reason, and I can't change that now. I- I don't think I can only use one..."

"You've stated previously that your Quirk pits your will, your dreams, against these people. All Might can handle villains throughout the world, and helping him would be a great cause." Stefano started, pausing as the blonde started coughing again. "However, would doing that help you, mister Midoriya? There have been times that your control slips in high stress situations. Situations that a hero must be a part of on a regular basis."

Izuku shook his head. He understood what was being said; those were reasons he had always given himself before he was kidnapped. It was different now. He was different now.

"Its not just that…" Izuku spoke quickly, finding his words gaining strength with each syllable. "Its just… I remembered something. After the incident, I remembered when I first got my Quirk. Not when I suddenly had the N- Nine, but before then." His words were soft as he looked down, following his feet as they traced circles on the floor. "I used to have nightmares. I'd always be floating in space; I would always float aimlessly, never able to breathe, nor utter a cry for help. I felt broken. And it was… painful being that helpless. I used to wake up crying in the middle of the night, and my… mom would have to come to calm me down. Then one night, there was an All Might figurine on my nightstand, and when I woke to it, I just felt like he was there for a moment. A- and I just felt… safe."

He paused to look up at his quiet therapist, locking eyes with him. "So, I want to be a hero. I want people to see me, and feel safe. That's…" Izuku faltered, losing confidence suddenly. "Why I want to be a hero…"

For a moment, there was calm, contemplative breathing echoing in the room. No one moved from their designated spots in the room, and Izuku just waited for someone to break the silence. However, he never expected the silence to be destroyed by the normally quiet Yagi.

The man was in an almost silent, sniveling fit, and furiously wiped his nose with one arm as the other tried to stem some tears that were threatening to break out. He was so caught up in his emotions that he never noticed the stares that Izuku and Stefano were giving him. They both wondered why he was even there in the first place.

Still, Stefano sighed at the situation, turning to Izuku while he ignored the quietly sobbing man. "I normally don't try to bring my personal feelings into these interviews, but I feel that this is a time to put my thoughts on the table. Mister Midoriya, you are perhaps one of the most gifted people I have had the pleasure to talk to. You are more mature for your age, and I can only attribute that to your situation, but at the same time, I know that you are still inexperienced. You're a child who has the ability to change the world, but you hesitate because you feel that you need to."

Izuku blinked at the man, pulling the entirety of his attention into focus as his therapist continued. "You want to have recognition, and you want redemption. However, you are still a child." The man looked up, staring into Izuku's eyes. "I have a granddaughter, about your age, and she has a rather powerful Quirk, just like you. Of course, even if the nature of your abilities differ greatly, she still has problems of her own that trouble her like you. Yet, she doesn't have the same intensity your gaze has. She's not looking at things like they are entirely her fault when the problems she causes catch up to her. You are, though. You take your experiences, and decide that everything is your fault. You don't give yourself a chance to realize that some things are out of your control."

"But, but I-" Izuku started. "What if they really are my fault…"

"Then, you get up and learn," he said. "Don't let guilt weigh you down. And, now that I find myself beginning to sound like a half-baked motivational speaker, I need to say: Take things slow. You're still might have had a harsher spot in life, but that doesn't change the fact that you're a child."

"That's…" Izuku was stumped.

He'd always had an internal timer on his problems. First, healing his mom was a priority, and it had taken him so long to figure everything out. His sanity was always called into question, so he'd always been told to rush to get where he needed to be.

Now though, someone was telling him to slow down. To have time to make more mistakes.

Izuku honestly had no idea how to think on that idea. Guilt clogged his thoughts, and always pushed him to get rid of it. Loss had poisoned his reason, and he was only left with bits and pieces that he forged himself. On top of that, small bits of blissful sanctuary stopped him from making any larger choices. He felt he wanted to change, but was afraid of what that might entail; what that decision would cause him to lose.

With the Nine in his head, Izuku didn't even know if he was allowed to be a child.

Luckily, a distraction from his thoughts came when Izuku saw mister Yagi beginning to approach him. The boy flinched at the hard gaze the man gave him, and was about to move when the skinny man stopped.

Yagi cleared his throat, and with the softest tones Izuku heard from the man, he spoke. "Young Midoriya, if you could… use a different Quirk, then would your dreams change?"

"Mister Yagi, I know you've been rather emotional for the last couple minutes, but I believe we had an agreement that you wouldn't interfere with these sessions." Stefano spoke, his voice low, threatening.

"It's... okay," Izuku spoke quickly, facing the most suspicious man in the room. He hadn't trusted mister Yagi since the beginning, but now he was interested in a bit of what he said. "Does this mean that you can give people Quirks?"

"No, er…" the man started sweating. "I mean, hypothetically, if you could choose to abandon your Quirk and use a… less volatile one, would you take that chance?"

Izuku narrowed his eyes at the skinny man; it sounded rather contrived that someone would offer someone like that without a catch. However, he still felt the need to answer honestly. "Even if that was real, I don't think I would take that deal. I would feel… like I was running away. M- maybe if it was before everything happened, but… This is my problem, so I want to deal with it myself."

Mister Yagi's eyes widened as if realizing something. "Right… forget I asked then."

The room fell into silence. Izuku had slightly expected it before he answered; the question was just so random that it broke the atmosphere the room had been in before. He could tell that his therapist was thinking of something to say, but the suspicion that mister Yagi had garnered was something that was hard to ignore.

Izuku wasn't privy to the exact reasons why the man had insisted to be put in the room for every single session, but he was forced to deal with it when his mom agreed with it. A fact that confused the boy even further.

Mister Yagi was the man who was supposed to be the secretary to All Might, yet his supposed work was always shunted off to Izuku's mom. On that alone, Izuku thought there might be a little more apprehension or ill-intent directed to the man from his mom. However, instead of opposition, all Izuku could catch from their brief conversations on the phone were hints of gratitude.

The whole situation confused him more often than he cared to admit.

Still, Izuku couldn't use Jack's Quirk to pry open the situation. After the boy had used the man's Quirk awhile ago, he had thought that they had come to an agreement of sorts. Yet, every time he used the Quirk, there would always be hints of something going on after Izuku allowed the man to either converse with his therapist or some other mundane conversation with a random passerby. It was the fact that he couldn't even find what was going on despite listening to every word that frightened the boy from using Jack's Quirk too much.

As for the others, Izuku was still trying to figure out what each of them reacted to. Hitoshi and Himiko were a great help to figuring out most of them, but his time limit for everyone's Quirk was cut to fifteen minutes unless he offered something they wanted. Safe to say he barely let them indulge in their choices.

While the trio in the room were busy putting their thoughts in order, the door creaked open a bit for an old woman to peek into the room. Small, black eyes roved over the room until they found mister Yagi, and her long, thin mouth stretched the wrinkles on her cheeks.

"Toshinori, have you been crying?"

Hearing his name, the blonde man perked up before his face grew an interesting shade of red. "Of course I haven't!"

The woman raised an eyebrow, shifting further into the room to reveal her doctor's coat worn over her dress. She picked the ends of the coat that were dragging on the ground before sighing. "I'll believe you this time… However, it's about time for you to get your check-up. When you get the time, could you come find me?"

"Oh! Right," Toshinori nodded, looking at the room. "A- actually, let's get started now."

"Of course you did something again Toshinori…" she mumbled, motioning for the man to follow her before turning back to make contact with Izuku. "Are you going to be going to the hospital today, dearie?"

Izuku paused a bit at the sudden question, but he remembered his mom saying something about a drug addict a few days ago. "Would that be okay?"

"There's no reason to be shy; you're always welcome to come help out." she smiled. "Does your mother know where you're going, though? Should we contact her before we go?"

"No!" The boy nearly shouted, his eyes flicking everywhere for some answers. "I mean, mom already knows. We don't need to tell her, and distract her from her work…"

The old woman frowned a bit. "...okay, however, should anything happen, I will have to call your mother. We'll head over to the hospital with Toshinori here."

Saying that, she bowed to Stefano. "Sorry for taking your time, mister Mariani. I hope whatever time we took wasn't too much."

"No, you're fine, miss Shuzenji." The old man laughed a bit. "After all, I don't there's a hero out there that would think badly of you, Recovery Girl."

"We're using our hero names are we now, Luminescent?."

Izuku shivered at the way Recovery girl said those words, and suddenly he felt a little more in a hurry to get out of the room. He shared a looked at a green-faced Toshinori, and for once, the two of them seemed to understand the other's thoughts.

They left the room before they heard more.

* * *

Izuku breathed in the heavy scent of lemon and disinfectant. It clouded the almost pure white hallway as he kept pace with the older woman next to him. She hadn't said anything since they arrived at the hospital, but the boy wasn't sure if that was because she had talked to his therapist about something or he did something wrong.

Either way, the boy didn't know how to respond. He wasn't good at figuring people out, and his nerves canceled out any subjects he thought could spark a conversation. As such, Izuku spent his time watching the hospital's daily scene to have something to distract him.

The place was as clean as it could be. Either from them cleaning it everyday, or them preemptively powerwashing it in lieu of his arrival. In a way, Riley's Quirk kept them on their toes on how badly it could go from false alarm to run-at-first-sight.

However, despite how bad Riley's Quirk could be, everyone had gotten used to his appearances. Nurses in white scrubs meandered down the halls, shuffling papers and evaluations into the crooks of elbows while doctors gave him and Recovery Girl a wide berth. Still, no one moved to stop him or Recovery Girl as they walked.

That was mainly to the multitude of heros and policemen standing guard outside several rooms or were walking down the halls. They weren't there to get check-ups or anything; the hallway was for injured or drugged villains to be kept in. It was one of the support areas that people with healing Quirks and restraint Quirks who, instead of going on different assignments, wanted something a little closer to home. In either case, this section of the hospital helped to minimize casualties in case of a hero going too far, and to offer a way for villains to be held in more humane ways, as the government put it.

Izuku saw the place as somewhere he might have to spend quite a bit of time at. His Quirks rarely came with a safe and friendly option of takedowns, and unless he was going against someone extremely tough, Izuku felt that he might have to hurt them pretty badly. As such, getting to know the ins and outs of what is known as the "villain ward" would help him in the long run. It also helped that he could offer support here and there in the hospital.

In the beginning, he had to prove himself as ready and able to act as a support to both the doctors and police around, but after doing so, along with Recovery Girl vouching for him, he was let in under surveillance. And now he was currently being led to one of the rooms holding a recent villain capture.

"Did you read the overview on who you're looking at?" Izuku jumped at the voice next to him, looking down at the smiling Recovery Girl.

"A little… I was in a rush to get out of the house at the time."

"And why were you in a rush? If something's happening at home, you can tell us."

Suppressing a frown and the opportunity to say that he could handle it, Izuku put on his best fake smile. "Don't worry, I just got out of bed late and… mom had to get me to my therapy session."

"Of course," Recovery Girl held the word as if there was some other meaning behind it before taking a left and waiting for Izuku to catch up. "Just tell either All Might or I if something is bothering you. We can't be around all the time, but we can try to support you the best way we can."

"...thank you." Izuke felt his mind wander a bit. It was perhaps only him that had both All Might and Recovery Girl as 'support', even if it was only by his Quirk.

"You're welcome, dearie. Oh, but before we get there, can you tell me what you know, so I can fill you in."

"Well… the man seems to have a hardening Quirk. However, his Quirk reportedly shouldn't have given him enough toughness to tank the heroes who arrived to stop him, but he still did. There was also a large amount of dopamine, testosterone and adrenaline, leading people to believe he was... drugged before his rampage started."

Recovery Girl smiled, patting him on the arm. "So you did read most of it. And what do you think of it?"

Izuku paused, pursing his lips as he wasn't expecting her to ask. He knew that Recovery Girl's Quirk only helped speed up the process of healing, so she had to know quite a bit of medical knowledge in order to use her Quirk as effectively as it could be. However, he was on a different spectrum as Riley was the one with knowledge, and he simply piggybacked off her, in a sense.

"I don't know…" he decided. "I'll have to… see the culprit to know for sure, but did they find the injection site?"

The old woman hummed, flashing her name tag at one of the police standing by a door. The policeman nodded, letting the two in before Recovery Girl started talking again. "Not yet," she pointed to a large man with a heavily bruised and swollen face laying handcuffed to the hospital bed. "Though, you can take a look, and tell me if you find anything."

"You're not going to…" Izuku frowned, looking back and forth between the man and the empty room. "Help me?"

"Think of it as a test, deary. You've spent around a month here, so I think you have enough practice to start doing things without me hovering over your shoulder."

Izuku flinched, remembering how much time he had taken from one of the world's best healing heroes. It was a sobering realization on how selfish he had been without seeing it. Quietly, he nodded in acceptance, feeling the gazes of the policemen who were staring into the room.

"Is that going to be okay. I mean, you've heard of what that Quirk can do to-"

"I know." Recovery Girl cut the man off, and Izuku blinked at how low the woman's voice got. "You don't need to tell me anything; just do your job and stand there… please."

Feeling a bit of warmth coil into his chest, Izuku turned his attention inwards, feeling the nine people in his head held back by the green chains. In what was only seconds, he had finished his ritual to pull Riley's Quirk close to himself. Knowledge and madness began to fill his head as he felt Riley squirm a bit in his grasp.

However, before Izuku could have any real trouble, the girl calmed down and began to act interested in the situation. It was perhaps one of the times Izuku took notice of the little things surrounding every Quirk's personalities.

Riley felt like was was twisted from madness and perpetual curiosity. It was only after Izuku dug a little deeper that he noticed other emotions buried underneath, as if terrified to be revealed. Something about the little things she constantly said were always trying to prove that she was crazy, and would create some mass pathogen at the drop of a hat, always struck Izuku a little oddly. Yet, the most peculiar thing was how easily her Quirk was twisted to what he wanted.

All he needed was a little distraction to keep her occupied, and he would be able to use her Quirk for much longer than the others. And in doing so, Izuku felt pretty sick at how accustomed to manipulating her he had become. He felt like he had switched one shackle for another.

Still, the boy told himself how horrible she could be. He persuaded his morals that he was using her Quirk and not her.

With his heart set, Izuku turned back to the person on the bed. Riley was chattering in the back of his head, adding in all the ways he could dissect the man to see what made him tick, but Izuku calmly walked over the bedside.

He pressed one finger onto the man's skin, and felt how the man's skin seemed a little rougher than normal. It wasn't outside a humanly threshold, though. That either dictated that the man's Quirk was more conscious in its application, or he needed a sufficient force to activate it. The severity of the man's injuries probably warranted out the latter, but Izuku just noted that for speculation.

Looking back to the man's bruised face, Izuku noticed the dark purple that crowded the edges of the man's eyes and cheeks. A broken orbital, cheek and possible dislocated jaw. Whoever had hit him definitely wasn't holding back, but considering the damage the man caused before being taken down, Izuku felt that maybe it was warranted.

The problem was that all that damage had most definitely given the man a concussion as well. That would affect the results of the investigation later. Still, that wasn't part of Izuku's reason for being there, so the boy just made sure the man wasn't in any danger while ignoring Riley's yelling about a 'chance to take some grey matter'.

Then, seeing seemingly not traces of an foreign injection, Izuku frowned as he found one bee sting along a major artery. It would make sense that bees were active at this time of year, but the area that it was found caused a little seed of doubt to be placed on the boy's mind.

The sting was already half-way healed, swelling had died down to only a raised bump while the stinger had probably been removed when the man was first admitted. Overall it was an injury that wouldn't be looked over too thoroughly, but Riley was gushing about some new injection applications for her ideas. There was something there. However, no matter how long Izuku looked, he found nothing out of place except what they already knew.

"Did you find anything?"

Looking over his shoulder, Izuku found Recovery Girl. "No… well, actually, it's probably nothing."

"If you have something, say it. No one's going to criticize you for not figuring it out after a couple minutes of looking at them."

"Well…" Izuku pointed at the bee sting. "I think this is probably something to look further into. Riley is talking about things again, a- and I think that's a cause for concern… probably. But, I- I don't think I found anything more telling on what this drug could be."

Recovery Girl smiled, humming. She raised a finger to the man's mouth and opened their jaw a bit. "Can you tell me what color their tongue is?"

Izuku frowned, peering into the barely open teeth. "It's… black? But why would that be the case? Is the drug actually orally taken? An adverse reaction or something?"

"The truth is: we don't know." Izuku blanked at the blunt reply from his mentor. Seeing his clueless look, the older woman chuckled a little. "Don't think too badly about our results. In fact, your guesses are something we're looking into as well."

"The way you say 'results'... does that mean that this man is not the only one affected with this drug?"

Recovery Girl gave him a wry smile. "We're calling it Trigger, or that's what the dealers have been calling it. Whatever it is, all we know that is artificially induces heavy emotions on the person taking the drug, and that subsequently causes the person to display a much stronger Quirk."

Izuku paused as the words sunk into his thoughts. The drug's effects were eerily similar to what Hitoshi was talking about a few days ago. Something about a correlation between emotions and Quirks. However, the people taking Trigger weren't only gaining a stronger Quirk but were also getting an equal amount of hormonal imbalance to replicate the effects of stress and elation. Either way, the drug was trying to get a reaction out of them to increase their Quirk output.

"If that's the case, and their brains are clouded by the sheer amount of endorphins…" Izuku mumbled, suddenly coming to a conclusion. "Then, wouldn't these people be acting on every impulse?"

"I knew you would get it. Yes, these sudden increase in villain activity is nothing more than a bunch of random people being injected with Trigger."

Izuku's eyes widened at the information. "Then… this seems much bigger than I first thought." Slowly, a bit of apprehension sneaked into his thoughts. "If that's the case, though, why are you telling me this? This seems a bit too much for my first assignment. Um, no offense…"

"Oh… yes," Recovery Girl sighed, looking back to the door for a second. It wasn't until the policemen standing outside silently closed it that the woman began talking again. "You see, All Might and I had thought that maybe you'd be able to piece together the details of Trigger when you first saw it. Perhaps we thought you- I mean, Riley's Quirk was strong enough to do something like that now."

"You both thought…" Izuku blushed, feeling embarrassment coloring his cheeks. "Sorry."

"Don't worry, dearie, perhaps we had been hurrying you a bit. Though," she paused in her sentence, looking a few seconds too long out the window. "I recommend you get comfortable using Riley's Quirk more."

The boy blinked. "Why?"

"Well… you never know when such skills might come in handy. For example, we have been thinking about raising the ban on your surgery abilities, so whenever you're ready, we can start anytime."

"Oh… okay." Izuku felt a bit of vertigo at the sudden trust in his abilities. They had specifically held him back to only diagnoses, and strictly banned him from touch even the water. However, now he was being held accountable for something so dangerous.

"I know its a lot to think about, so let's get you some ice cream before we get you home, okay? Or do you prefer a lollipop?"

Izuku nodded his head, still a little in shock over the previous conversation. Idly, he felt his body being led by the old hero, and calmly let himself be moved while his thoughts were all over the place. For some reason, he began to feel needed. It was a sort of elation he hadn't felt in awhile.

However, in the clouds of his thoughts, his eyes still landed on one nameplate and the open door next to it. The room wasn't any different from any other hospital room in the villain ward, but it was the visitor that caught most of the boy's attention.

To call the person a man was like calling a gorilla a monkey. He had muscles on his muscles, and every inch of the man looked like it had been sculpted for one singular purpose. An idle Riley in his head had almost screamed at how perfect the man's physique was for combat. And considering the thick calluses and scars that dotted the man's hands, he had definitely been putting that body to work.

Yet, those hands made for punching in skulls were clasped around a feeble, white hand that was handcuffed to the bedside. They held the hand with such care that Izuku almost thought the man was afraid to hurt the handcuffed individual.

A moment later, the massive man turned in his seat, and Izuku was faced with the most terrifying eyes of coal he had seen in his life. The man's dark hair was choppy, cleanly cut in places, but looked as if it was torn and burnt in others. His eyebrows were thick and bushy; almost shading his already deep, black eyes. There were traces of unshaven stubble on the block of the man's square jaw, and only a diagonal scar torn from his left cheek to his jawline. It looked as if someone had decided to put everything that was masculine and tough into one man before calling it a day.

Izuku felt his mouth dry up at the man's gaze, and pushed Riley's Quirk away in order to try and grab someone who might help him. Though, before he took a moment to call up someone useful, the man turned his blank face into something of an apologetic smile.

"Sorry 'bout that, kid." The man's voice rumbled down the hall. "...didn't see you there."

"I- its okay." Izuku stuttered out, finding Recovery Girl smiling at him and choosing to follow after her. He paused a bit to take a look back at the man again only to find him looking back to the woman in the bed, his hands still clasped around the singular one.

'Oguro' the nameplate read. Izuku put that name to memory as some instinct in him told him that that man was certainly someone to note. Whoever they were, Izuku was rather apprehensive on figuring out what Quirk they had in order to make him sweat so much.

"I see you found the gentle giant." Recovery Girl joked, smiling a bit at izuku.

"Gentle?"

The woman hummed. "Yes, mister Oguro comes every weekend to see his wife without fail. Everyone here ended up calling him by that nickname and it stuck."

"That… makes sense," Izuku paused, not really seeing the sense in that. "But, why is she here? She didn't look too… able."

"Ah, that…" the old hero had a look on her face that was a mixture of pain and pity. "Apparently, her Quirk overwhelmed her body, and her organs began failing en masse. Its lucky that she's still alive today. In the process of trying to stop her, several heroes were injured in her carelessness, so she ended up here."

Izuku accepted the information, and found that moments like this were rather odd considering his actual age. They juxtaposed his maturity and physicality in the same moment. However, that didn't mean he didn't appreciate it. He preferred the truth, after all.

Because he had enough lies to deal with himself.

"Could I…" Izuku looked back to Oguro's room.

The scenario Recovery Girl told him didn't have a happy ending like heroes were supposed to give. Thinking about it, Izuku realized that he wanted to help. That for once, he wanted to make things better instead of continually making things worse until one side gave out.

So, he wet his lips, and spoke with purpose. "Would I be able to save her with Riley's Quirk?"

The healer hero smiled, as if she had expected this. "We'll see, dearie."

"Yes, don't worry I'll-"

"Though, you will have to get your mother's permission this time."

Izuku blinked, staring at the still smiling woman. Busted.

* * *

_Sorry for the extremely long time between this an the last update. I was trying to get back into the classes, and ended up getting distracted every time I sat down to write. In lieu of that, this is a fairly long chapter, but without much action. Lots of set-up, though. If you see anything that I missed, feel free to yell at me until I notice._

_Trying to keep this short, so expect the next update at least faster than this one. Things are about to kick up. Also, I'm gonna stop doing the 'Next Chapter' stuff. It felt a little weird. _


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